BR  121  .M37  1898 
McKenzie,  Alexander,  1830- 


The  divine  for 


^■f     +Vi, 


•»nrM 


ce  in  the  lif, 


THE    DIVINE    FORCE    IN    THE 
LIFE  OF    THE   WORLD 


The  Divine  Force  in 
the  Life  of  the  World 

[Lowell   Institute  Lectures] 


By 

Alexander    McKenzie 

Author  of 

A  Door  Opened,"  "  Christ  Himself,"  "  Some  Things 
Abroad,"  "  Cambridge  Sermons  " 


VTCRESClT 

f 

Lamson,   Wolffe    and    Company 

Boston,   New  York,   London 

MDCCCXCVIII 


Copyright,  1S9S, 
By  Lamson,  Wolffe  and  Company 

All  rights  reserved 


PAHKHILL4    CO..     BOSTON,    U.S.A. 
PRINTERS 


TO  MY  WIFE 

WHOSE    COUNSEL    AND    ENCOURAGEMENT 
ARE    MY    CONTINUAL    HELP 


PREFACE 

The  contents  of  this  book  were  recently  given 
as  a  course  of  lectures  before  the  Lowell  Insti- 
tute. They  are  now  published  by  the  request 
and  advice  of  many  persons  whose  judgment  is 
with  authority.  No  change  has  been  made  in  the 
substance  of  the  lectures,  and  very  little  in  their 
form.  Some  passages  which  were  omitted  in  the 
reading  are  now  printed  in  their  place,  and  here 
and  there  a  sentence  has  been  added. 

The  purpose  of  the  book  will  be  evident  to  any 
one  who  reads  it.  I  claim  no  novelty  for  this  ;  but 
I  cannot  too  strongly  assert  my  conviction  of  the 
profound  importance  of  the  one  truth  which  has 
controlled  me  from  the  beginning  of  the  pages, 
which  I  offer  for  the  cheer  and  comfort  of  the 
serious  days  in  which  we  are  living. 

Alexander  McKenzie. 

The  First  Church  in  Cambridge, 
October,  1898. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

I.    The  Creation  and  Man 1 

II.   The  Course  of  Man  in  the  Oldest  Literature  .     51 

III.  The  Son  of  Man  in  early  Literature        .         .   115 

IV.  The  Purpose  and  Method  of  Christ  .         .         .  165 
V.   The  Cause  of  Christ  in  the  Hands  of  Men      .  219 

VI.    The  Christian  Forces 277 

Index 327 


I 

THE   CREATION  AND  MAN 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 


It  was  by  a  somewhat  singular  process  of 
self-restraint  that  one  whose  life  had  been  that 
of  a  parish  minister  undertook  to  treat  the 
themes  of  religion  without  preaching;  to  sep- 
arate them  from  feeling  and  appeal,  from  per- 
sonal experience  and  desire,  and  to  regard  them 
simply  as  vital  and  interesting  truths.  Yet  this 
is  possible.  It  is  certainly  necessary,  lest  the 
truths  of  religion  should  become  too  closely 
identified  with  our  own  thought  and  habit  of 
thinking ;  with  advantages  which  we  propose  to 
derive  from  them;  with  cherished  ideas  and 
vested  interests;  with  institutions  and  constitu- 
tions to  which,  in  our  suggestive  phrase,  we 
"  belong." 

While  in  its  most  serious  meaning  religion  is 
related  to  experience,  if  it  is  trustworthy  we  should 
be  able  to  stand  on  the  outside  of  it,  and  to  examine 
it,  and  the  evidences  which  attend  it,  in  the  light 
of  reason  and  conscience,  of  spiritual  thought,  of 
history,  of  influence,  and  with  the  highest  intel- 


4  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

lectual  and  ethical  honesty.  If  it  appeals  to 
faith,  as  it  must  do  because  of  its  relation  to 
the  unseen,  it  is  a  faith  which  rests  on  intelli- 
gence, and  can  justify  itself  with  truth. 

It  is  proposed  to  consider  certain  elements  of 
religion;  and  not  the  forms  which  have  been 
given  to  them.  A  truth,  if  it  remains  among 
men,  finds  a  body  formed  around  it,  with  members 
and  organs,  with  structure  and  weight.  The 
form  has  its  honor  and  its  use.  But  it  may  come 
to  pass  that  this  is  more  conspicuous  than  the 
truth  which  is  in  it,  which  must  shine  through  it, 
with  its  light,  perhaps,  colored  and  diverted  on 
the  way  ;  as  a  ray  from  the  sun  is  shattered  by 
the  prism  which  is  thrust  in  its  path.  Yet  it 
should  not  be  very  hard  to  find  the  truth  and  to 
regard  it  by  itself.  The  universal  interest  in  that 
which  may  be  termed  religion  is  promising.  The 
gathering  of  materials  belonging  to  it  will  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  construction  of  the  Temple.  It  is 
the  usual  order,  though  not  invariable  in  this  kind 
of  building.  If  I  may  cite  an  ancient  writer, 
whose  name  I  do  not  know,  there  are  signs  which 
suggest  "  the  removing  of  those  things  that  are 
shaken,  as  of  things  that  have  been  made,  that 
those  things  which  are  not  shaken  may  remain." 

Others  have  spoken  and  written  upon  the  vari- 
ous departments   of   religious   thought  and  life, 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  5 

and  their  words  are  with  us,  rich  in  learning,  and 
the  more  instructive  because  their  breadth  per- 
mitted depth.  It  were  as  dull  as  it  would  be 
useless  for  me  to  attempt  to  do  again  what  has 
been  done  well.  It  were  better  that  I  should 
recognize  what  has  been  said,  and  make  use  of  it 
so  far  as  it  will  assist  my  design.  As  I  look 
toward  the  westering  sun,  whose  slant  beams  fall 
on  many  years  which  have  been  spent  among 
these  things  that  we  have  in  mind,  I  hold  it  for 
myself,  and  for  those  who  trust  me,  to  be  well  de- 
termined that  there  is  a  permanent  reality  called 
religion ;  with  spirit  and  form,  with  word  and  life ; 
and  that  without  extraordinary  effort  thoughtful 
men  and  women  can  have  it,  and  rejoice  in  it. 
This  must  certainly  be  so,  if  there  is  the  reality. 
For  in  its  nature  religion  must  be  universal,  and 
hence  in  its  elements  readily  comprehended.  It 
is  not,  in  its  principles,  subject  to  our  control. 
It  expresses  the  true  relation  of  man  to  God,  and 
that  we  have  to  learn  and  accept  and  employ. 
It  is  given  to  us  as  the  light  is,  and  cannot  itself 
be  changed  in  our  hands. 

When  we  have  gone  beyond  the  first  principles 
there  is  room  for  diversity  of  belief  and  statement, 
and  no  one  can  complain  that  the  room  has  not 
been  occupied.  There  is  a  variety  of  opinions, 
reaching  as  far  as  thought  can  go ;    affected  by 


6  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

lands  and  times  and  conditions,  by  mental  traits 
and  desires,  and  appalling  in  character  and 
amount.  Can  we  get  away  far  enough  to  be  free 
from  conditions,  and  find  the  comfort  which  is  for 
those  who  live  "in  the  familiar  thought  of  the 
eternal  years  "  ? 

I  shall  refer  from  time  to  time  to  the  earliest 
chapters  of  the  Bible.  Let  me  say  once  for  all 
that  I  do  this,  not  because  they  are  in  the  Bible, 
but  because  they  are  our  oldest  literature,  which 
entitles  them  to  respect ;  and  they  give  a  concise 
and  connected  account  of  the  times  of  which  we 
have  no  better  record.  They  furnish  an  excellent 
statement  of  early  events.  They  assert  a  further 
claim  upon  our  regard,  but  that  I  shall  not 
press. 

There  is  a  point  at  which,  with  full  consent, 
our  thought  begins.  I  like  the  superb  organ 
tones  of  those  primal  words  of  the  primal  book, 
"  In  the  beginning,  God."  There  reason  and 
imagination  rest.  The  mind  may  wish  to  venture 
on,  but  this  is  the  last  solid  ground.  Shall  we 
meet  there,  and,  unable  to  go  farther  north,  come 
down  into  the  world  of  to-day  ? 

I  see  the  difficulty  of  this  method.  It  would 
seem  easier  to  start  from  our  streets  and  ascend 
until  we  come  to  God  in  his  solitude.  But  is  it 
not  best  to  begin  with  the  simple,  and  is  not  God 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  7 

clearer  than  the  world ;  concealed,  confused,  con- 
tradictory to  us  who  are  in  the  midst  of  it,  and 
whirling  around  with  it  ?  It  is  better  to  begin  in 
the  mystery  than  to  end  in  it.  The  world  is 
plainer  when  we  stand  with  God  and  look  upon 
it  than  is  God  when  we  stand  in  the  world  and 
lift  our  eyes  to  Him.  We  cannot  know  Him  per- 
fectly ;  but  the  knowledge  to  which  we  can  attain 
illumines  the  earth.  Mysteries  are  merely  truths 
which  are  not  yet  disclosed,  and  they  are  opened 
before  us  in  the  light  of  his  presence. 

Religion  in  any  intelligent  use  of  the  term  must 
confess  a  supreme  mind  and  will,  which  can  be 
known  and  ought  to  be  obeyed.  It  is  more  than 
knowledge  and  obedience,  for  its  home  is  in  the 
deepest  nature  of  man,  where  in  its  allegiance  to 
the  true  and  its  devotion  to  the  right  it  governs 
the  life.  We  seem  to  be  coming  toward  a  service- 
able agreement  concerning  these  things.  A  prom- 
inent teacher  of  philosophy,  not  identified  with 
the  common  religious  thought,  closed  an  address 
not  long  ago  with  the  remark,  "  I  am  certainly 
disposed  to  insist  that  what  the  faith  of  our 
fathers  has  genuinely  meant  by  God  is  iden- 
tical with  the  inevitable  outcome  of  a  reflective 
philosophy." 

Religion  is  in  the  highest  sense  personal,  for  it  is 
the  worship,  the  loyalty,  of  the  spirit  who  is  man, 


8  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

responding  to  the  divinity  of  the  spirit  who  is  God. 
If  we  ask  what  upon  our  side  is  the  source  of 
religion  and  the  religious  idea,  the  answer  is 
prepared.  They  have  their  source  within  the 
life  of  man,  and  are  inseparable  from  it.  For  the 
life  must  be  lower  than  it  has  anywhere  been 
found  to  be  devoid  of  the  principle  of  religion. 
But  what  is  the  source  of  the  life  of  man  which 
brings  religion  within  it?  The  answer  again  is 
obvious.  At  the  first,  before  all  things,  or  ever 
creation  had  issued  into  the  void  of  space,  was 
the  Eternal,  the  Almighty.  "  In  the  beginning, 
God."  I  do  not  know  when  they  were  first 
written,  or  spoken,  or  thought,  those  four  words. 
They  come  from  a  realm  into  which  no  discoverer 
has  penetrated.  They  keep  their  place  in  our 
thought  because  they  are  true.  They  are  at  the 
opening  of  the  oldest  book  in  use.  It  is  accounted 
a  book  of  religion,  but  that  should  not  lessen  its 
authority.  There  are  the  words,  with  unrecorded 
centuries  upon  them.  It  is  of  more  than  ordinary 
interest,  to  think  of  a  man  whose  name  and  land 
we  do  not  know,  of  whom  we  have  no  sign  but  in 
these  syllables  and  the  sentences  which  follow 
them,  finding  his  way  into  his  undetermined 
past,  and  telling  to  his  children,  and  through 
them  to  the  world,  this  simple,  massive  truth,  and 
relating    the    deeds   which    in    grandeur    stand 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  9 

within  it.  The  first  chapter  of  the  Book  needs 
no  name  to  give  it  majesty.  Whence  it  came  no 
one  can  tell. 

Here  I  might  rest,  so  far  as  this  is  concerned. 
If  I  add  a  fifth  word,  the  universe  starts  into 
being :  .  .  .  "  In  the  beginning  God  created." 
Here  an  entirely  new  word  appears,  and  a  new 
fact.  Language  and  history  are  enriched  in  one 
event.  Science  receives  a  stupendous  endow- 
ment. Alone  in  his  eternity  He  dwelt  and  all 
life  was  his.  It  is  beyond  our  thought,  but  not 
so  far  beyond  as  would  be  the  denial  of  it.  We 
willingly  allow  our  thought  to  flow  out  to  the 
Eternal  and  there  to  rest  among  the  mysteries 
which  do  not  weary  us.  What  resources  for 
companionship  the  Creator  had  in  his  own  being 
we  need  not  now  inquire.  From  the  fellowship 
in  our  own  nature  we  infer  with  confidence  of 
reasoning  the  perfect  fellowship  within  his  infi- 
nite being,  and  of  this  many  things  have  been 
written.  I  am  concerned  here  only  with  the 
presence  of  the  life,  whose  reality  is  the  earliest 
truth.  By  his  will,  through  his  power,  He  made 
that  to  be  which  was  not,  and  could  not  other- 
wise become.  "  The  Universal  Cause,  itself  un- 
caused," by  its   living   will  summoned  creation. 

He  must  have  delighted  to  create.  How 
readily  we  use  the  new  word,  failing  to  think 


10  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

of  the  fathomless  mysteries  which  it  contains  ! 
Creation !  Who  shall  describe  it  ?  Its  results 
we  perceive ;  but  by  what  process  have  they 
come?  Creation  is  not  the  combining  of  mate- 
rials, for  there  were  no  materials.  It  is  not  the 
erection  of  a  building,  or  the  construction  of  a 
mechanism.  Creation  is  the  outreaching  of  en- 
ergy, thought,  will,  life,  into  forms  which  they 
had  not  known.  But  when  and  how  did  this 
come  to  pass  ?  With  the  advance  of  our  knowl- 
edge this  constantly  recurring  question  is  not 
more  easily  answered.  We  have  many  things 
relating  to  the  world,  and  the  worlds,  and  their 
life,  but  they  have  kept  this  secret.  If  we  no 
longer  imagine  the  Almighty  upon  some  day 
which  is  a  little  beyond  our  calendar  making  a 
universe  and  sending  it  on  its  course;  if  we 
cherish  the  later  announcement  that  it  was  by 
almost  interminable  processes  that  the  universe 
was  produced,  — the  nebular  dust  with  no  discov- 
erable motion  gathering  itself  into  stars,  and  the 
jetsam  and  flotsam  of  chaos  stretching  themselves 
in  unmeasured  planes  to  make  the  earth, — still  the 
time,  and  the  way,  refuse  to  declare  themselves. 
But  earth  and  sky,  and  air  and  sea,  confess  the 
divine  hand  that  made  them,  and  with  their 
thousand    voices    utter   their   praise. 

I  have  fallen  into  the  old  way  in  saying   the 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  11 

divine  hand.  They  were  not  hand-made.  Bnt 
the  language  has  very  high  authority  and  is  con- 
venient. It  is  hard  to  describe  what  no  one  has 
ever  thoroughly  told. 

"  In  the  beginning,  God."  He  was  all  the  life. 
Religion  and  science  are  in  accord.  Many  have 
spoken  of  life.  The  last  official  utterance  which 
has  come  to  my  notice  was  made  by  one  who  is, 
I  suppose,  as  well  entitled  to  speak  as  any  one  in 
the  world.  In  the  distinguished  medical  congress 
in  Moscow  last  year  Professor  Virchow,  of  Berlin, 
gave  an  address  upon  "  The  Continuity  of  Life." 
"  Life,"  he  said,  "  had  no  other  origin  than  from 
Life  itself,  and  this  is  one  of  the  truths  which  the 
labors  of  the  pathologist  and  biologist  of  the 
present  century  have  established  beyond  the  pos- 
sibility of  doubt."  We  knew  that  before.  But 
it  is  well  to  hear  it  again  from  time  to  time.  He 
thought  it  necessary  to  call  it  to  the  minds  of  the 
hundreds  of  physicians  who  had  flocked  to  the 
Kremlin.  He  closed  with  the  hope  "  that  the 
final  mystery  of  life  might  be  solved  through 
similar  studies.  It  is  in  their  laboratory  that  the 
key  will  be  forged  which  shall  unlock  the  door 
which  still  holds  us  back  from  full  knowledge  of 
the  processes  of  life."  I  cannot  think  there  is  the 
remote  probability  that  this  learning  will  ever  be 
acquired.     Meantime  we  shall  continue  to   live. 


12  THE    C BE  AT  ION    AND    MAN 

We  are  confirmed  in  our  knowledge  of  the  one 
origin  of  life.  In  this  is  our  hope,  nor  does 
science  "  waft  us  home  the  message  of  despair." 
"  In  Him  was  life."  He  was  the  life.  In  that 
life,  with  it,  of  it,  for  it,  He  created.  The  pur- 
pose to  create  was  in  the  beginning,  an  eternal 
thought.  In  that  sense  creation  was  eternal,  for 
his  purposes  do  not  change.  It  could  then,  in  a 
large  measure,  have  its  value  for  Him.  His  idea 
was  the  reality.  It  is  easiest  to  retain  the  ordi- 
nary conception  and  to  think  of  the  creation  as  an 
event  in  time. 

From  another  point  of  view  it  has  been  reasoned 
in  this  way :  God  is  spirit,  and  it  is  the  essence 
of  spirit  to  manifest  itself ;  and  creation  "  is  the 
eternal  self-revelation  of  God."  He  was  not 
dependent  upon  it,  yet  creation  was  certain  to 
come.  At  any  rate,  its  coming  was  reasonable 
and  desirable.  To  have  this  shut  up  in  his  inten- 
tion could  not  have  been  permanent ;  for,  in  the 
first  place,  creation  was  to  be  for  others  also  ;  and, 
again,  it  was  to  be  his  delight  to  call  the  others 
into  being,  that  they  might  enjoy  the  earth  and 
the  heavens,  and  receive  his  love  which  needed 
true  hearts  for  its  home,  and  return  it  in  their 
love  which  must  needs  be  the  free  and  personal 
offering  of  a  real  soul.  The  Almighty,  as  it 
were,  went  beyond  Himself.    The  terms  are  sadly 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  13 

inaccurate  —  his  thought  reached  away,  his  will 
carried  his  life  out,  and  gave  it  larger  being  and 
form.  What  the  first  forms  were  is  of  little  con- 
sequence in  comparison  with  the  fact  that  they 
were  ;  that  the  created  was  in  the  presence  of  the 
eternal.  It  is  for  the  students  of  life  and  form  to 
find  out  what  this  beginning  was,  and  to  tell  us 
who  are  busy  with  other  things.  "  If  the  whole 
body  were  an  eye,  where  were  the  hearing  ? " 
Science  has  been  tardy,  but  it  has  come  to  our 
help  at  last.  We  shall  not  let  it  go  till  it  has 
blessed  us,  and  its  full  blessing  no  one  of  us  shall 
see.  Science  is  prophet  and  psalmist,  proclaim- 
ing truth,  and  teaching  us  to  rejoice  and  be  glad 
in  it.  I  believe  it  has  been  called  the  handmaid 
of  religion.  The  term  is  not  accurate.  Religion 
has  no  handmaid.  It  is  the  associate,  the  friend, 
of  religion.  They  work  for  one  end  —  the 
knowledge  of  God,  to  the  intent  that  He  may  be 
worshipped.  Science  without  religion  lacks  its 
true  and  highest  purpose.  Religion  without 
science  is  likely  to  be  sentiment,  and  not  virtue. 
It  is  now  evident  that  the  first  created  forms 
were  simple.  There  was  a  force  working  for 
their  enlargement  and  continuation.  What  was 
needed  was  a  starting ;  a  living  seed,  which  in 
the  ages  that  were  plentiful  might  be  made  a 
tree,  a  grove,  a  forest.     We  find  it  difficult  to  see 


14  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

the  beginning.     It  would  have  been  difficult  then 
to  see  the  end.     Indeed,  we  do  not  see  it  now. 
But  the  result  was  to  be  accomplished,  and  not 
by  some  power  made  inherent  in   things.     This 
which  had  been  made  had  not  been  cast  off  in  its 
infancy,  to  live  if  it  could.     The  divine  life  was 
to   continue   to  be  its  life.     The  shears  did  not 
come    near   the   thread.     "  That  cruel  Atropos  " 
was   not  yet  invented.     The  one  life  was  to  be 
the  reason   and   ground   of   its    existence.     The 
presence  of  the  Creator  was  to  be  in  all  things. 
He  could  not  be  identified  with  them.     They  were 
not  God.     He  could  withdraw  his  life  and  care, 
and  they  would  vanish  away.     They  were  not  so 
much  as  the  form  or  the  raiment  of  the  Creator. 
They  were  his  works,  and  He  was  before  them, 
in  the  strength  and  glory  of  eternal  being.     They 
could  be  multiplied  without  limit.     Other  things 
might  be  set  in  their  places.     But  in  and  after  all 
changes  He  would  remain  the  same,  administer- 
ing his  "  undisturbed  affairs."     He  was  not  all  in 
the  things  he  had  made,  restricted  by  them,  em- 
bodied in  their  bounds.     If  I  may  vary  the  image, 
the  ocean  is  in  every  bay  and  harbor  along  the 
coast.     This  is  the  only  and  sufficient  ground  of 
their  being.     If  the  ocean  should  withdraw,  they 
would  all  cease  to  be.     The  tides  of  the  ocean 
are  felt  on  the  shore.     It  is  a  poor  illustration. 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  15 

The  ocean  is  in  the  harbors,  but  is  not  dependent 
upon  them.  They  are  utterly  dependent  upon  the 
ocean.  It  wears  away  the  shore  and  makes  new 
harbors  for  itself,  but  it  does  not  imprison  its 
waters.  The  Atlantic  rolls  to-night  about  Minot's 
Ledge,  but  it  is  three  thousand  miles  to  Fastnet 
Rock,  and  the  ocean  reaches  all  the  way.  No 
meridian  makes  a  mark  upon  its  waves.  So  is  it 
with  the  divine  life.  It  is  the  ocean  flowing  into 
the  bays.  We  must  recognize  "  an  omnipresent 
energy,  which  is  none  other  than  the  living  God." 
"The  one  eternal  and  ultimate  reality  is  the 
absolute  life  of  God." 

We  are  reminded  of  the  youth  of  our  present 
views  of  the  creating  of  the  world  when  we  find  a 
man  as  recent  as  Plato  describing  the  disorder  of 
sensible  things,  and  the  Deity  as  making  each 
thing  harmonize  with  itself  and  with  other  things, 
and  then  out  of  them  constructing  the  universe. 
We  are  not  troubled  by  this  simplicity.  After  all 
there  is  the  Deity.  If  we  have  Him,  "  sensible 
things  "  come  readily,  and  are  obedient.  No  one 
has  yet  traced  the  intermediate  steps  between  the 
Eternal  and  the  world  as  we  have  seen  it.  But 
the  main  facts  are  clear,  and  it  is  these  which 
impress  us.  We  are  driven  to  the  use  of  our  own 
language  when  we  speak  of  God,  and  the  language 
is  not  adapted  to  such  service.     Yet  it  does  its 


16  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

best;  and  if  we  have  imagination,  and  are  at 
liberty,  the  assistance  is  real.  It  is  in  this  spirit 
I  hazard  the  remark,  that  it  was  a  supreme 
moment  with  the  Almighty  when  He  gave  to  his 
eternal  design  the  form  which  was  named  crea- 
tion. It  was  the  free,  glad,  ready  outworking  of 
his  wisdom  and  power.  We  can  almost  think  his 
delight  when  for  the  first  time  "the  morning  stars 
sang  together,  and  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for 
joy ; "  and  the  content  with  which  He  "  saw  every- 
thing that  He  had  made,  and,  behold,  it  was  very 
good."  Life  is  generous,  munificent.  It  gives 
itself.  He  was  generosity,  for  He  was  love  ;  and 
this  became  creation.  The  divine  thought  rejoiced 
when  it  was  literally  born  into  the  world.  We 
connect  the  Creator  and  creation,  and  properly. 
Each  is  disclosed  in  the  other.  God  is  revealed 
in  his  works,  and  the  meaning  of  the  works  is 
found  in  Him.  We  know  nothing  completely, 
but  we  nurse  the  incompleteness  of  our  knowledge 
when  we  sever  it  from  that  to  which  it  is  vitally 
united,  and  regard  it  altogether  by  itself.  The 
heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God  and  God  declares 
the  glory  of  the  heavens.  They  have  their  real 
value  in  the  shining  through  them  of  his  light. 
Nature  is  a  convenient  and  elastic  term,  and  all 
that  it  contains  deserves  our  notice.  But  in  its 
connection  with  the  unseen,  divine  original  it  has 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  17 

its  permanent  meaning.  It  has  been  honored  in 
many  ways ;  but  the  most  graceful  tribute  ever 
paid  to  it  is  at  the  opening  of  the  earliest  record, 
where  in  a  single  brief  sentence,  without  a  break, 
the  Eternal  stands  with  his  works.  His  glory 
reaches  over,  and  draws  the  worlds  to  itself  and 
holds  them  there.  Not  even  a  comma  separates 
God  and  the  created.  "  In  the  beginning  God 
created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  Astronomy, 
Geology,  the  whole  science  of  nature  has  never 
written  a  more  majestic  line.  "  In  the  beginning 
God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth."  These 
are  the  words  of  the  record  which  throughout  is  in 
accord  with  them.  The  account  is  unparalleled  for 
the  combining  of  scientific  and  religious  truth  ;  or, 
rather,  for  stating  religion  in  the  terms  of  science 
and  giving  to  science  the  spirit  of  religion.  In 
this  it  differs  essentially  from  all  other  ancient 
stories  of  creation. 

Many  writings  which  have  come  to  be  associ- 
ated with  it  maintain  this  fellowship  between  God 
and  his  works.  They  are  under  his  control,  are 
used  in  his  service,  are  clothed  with  his  power. 
His  truth  is  continually  illustrated  by  means  of 
his  works.  Not  poets  only,  prophets,  apostles, 
join  God  and  his  works  in  their  thoughts.  The 
great  Teacher  made  all  things,  even  the  grass  at 
his  feet,  explain  the  ways  of  God.     He  made  the 


18  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

facts  of  nature  illustrate  and  assist  the  truths  of 
human  life.  He  pointed  out  the  "  natural  law  in 
the  spiritual  world."  Thus  we  have  our  book  of 
religion  and  it  is  a  book  of  nature.  The  heavens 
bend  over  its  pages,  the  ocean  rolls  around  them, 
and  the  fields  bloom  with  providence.  Mountains 
and  hills  tower  above  the  lines,  and  rivers  run 
through  them;  among  them  rise  trees  in  whose 
branches  birds  build  their  nests.  Trace  these  all 
back,  from  book  to  book,  from  age  to  age,  and 
you  come  at  length,  you  are  glad  to  come,  to  those 
earliest  words,  so  compact  with  meaning,  so  rich 
with  information,  so  full  of  scientific  truth,  — 
the  august,   lasting  verities  of  the  universe. 

I  do  not  propose  to  read  the  weighty  statements 
which  follow  that  upon  which  I  have  delayed. 
For  me  there  is  a  wonderful  charm  in  the  first 
pages  of  the  first  book.  So  far  as  I  am  acquainted 
with  literature  there  is  nothing  to  compare 
with  them  in  the  magnificence  of  their  themes 
and  the  grandeur  of  their  treatment,  and  the 
tremendous  hold  they  get  on  thought  and  life. 
I  have  given  to  the  record  no  name.  I  have 
asserted  no  claim  for  it,  except  that  it  is  a 
writing,  and  that  it  has  reached  us  from  an 
illimitable  past.  Some  one  made  it.  There  is  no 
reason  to  question  his  belief  that  he  was  telling 
the  truth.     Whence  he  gained  his  knowledge  and 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  19 

assurance  he  does  not  tell.  His  sentences  are 
strong  and  clear,  and  it  is  very  remarkable  that 
they  so  well  anticipate  what  could  not  be  known 
by  observation  for  a  great  many  centuries.  I 
think  there  is  nothing  in  the  history  of  thought 
more  surprising  than  the  general  agreement  of 
our  later  scientific  knowledge,  acquired  by  long 
and  progressive  study,  with  the  condensed  state- 
ments of  this  man  to  whom  all  that  we  name 
science  was  unknown,  undreamed.  The  vexed 
question  how  Shakespeare  could  have  written 
the  plays  which  bear  his  name  is  nothing  com- 
pared with  the  question  how  this  man,  who  did 
not  even  put  his  name  to  his  work,  could  have 
written  the  first  chapter  of  the  book  "  commonly 
called  Genesis."  To  ascribe  the  book  to  Moses 
does  nothing  to  resolve  the  matter,  for  the 
account  itself  is  evidently  from  a  much  earlier 
time.  To  call  it  tradition  is  of  no  service,  for 
tradition  is  the  thought  of  men  as  really  as  if  it 
were  written.  And  where  did  the  tradition  come 
from  ?  No  system  of  ancient  cosmogony  can  be 
compared  with  this  in  value,  as  this  has  been 
determined  in  recent  years.  I  am  not  using  the 
account  to  teach  either  science  or  religion,  but  as 
an  excellent  statement  of  events  which  antedate 
history.  It  could  not  well  be  improved  for  sub- 
stantial accuracy,  for  simplicity,  directness,  rever- 


20  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

ence,  modesty,  and  the  poetic  beauty  and  grace 
which  at  once  enlist  and  inspire  the  imagination. 
The  old  record  was  not  made  for  a  text-book  in 
natural  history.  It  was  to  present  God  as  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  and  this  it  does.  It  has 
been  placed  at  the  opening  of  a  series  of  books 
whose  design  is  to  show  the  ways  of  God  with 
men.  It  does  efficiently  what  it  was  made  to  do. 
But  beyond  this  we  have  a  remarkable  agreement 
with  our  later  knowledge,  in  the  thought  of  the 
Creator,  the  progress  of  events,  the  advance  from 
the  simple  to  the  complex,  from  lower  to  higher 
forms,  by  indeterminate  periods.  It  is  not  of 
vital  importance  that  it  should  be  in  close  and 
perfect  agreement  with  all  which  is  now  known. 
If  our  knowledge  were  more  complete,  I  think  the 
coincidence  would  be  even  more  astounding  than 
it  is  now. 

There  are  moments  which  are  of  startling  inter- 
est. I  had  these  things  in  mind  when  a  few 
weeks  ago  I  met  on  the  street  a  very  eminent 
geologist,  the  head  of  a  scientific  school,  who  told 
me  as  the  result  of  his  study  that  he  believed 
the  first  living  creature  was  a  fish.  Others  have 
reached  the  same  conclusion,  but  it  came  to  me 
then  with  special  force.  I  opened  my  Bible  as 
quickly  as  I  could,  and  found  that  a  man  far  away 
in  the  wilderness  of  the  ages  had  written  as  the 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  21 

first  words  in  his  catalogue  of  living  things,  "  And 
God  said,  Let  the  waters  bring  forth  abundantly 
the  moving  creature  that  hath  life."  Was  that  a 
lucky  guess,  or  a  flash  of  genius,  or  the  fortunate 
achievement  of  a  poetic  imagination  ?  Who  was 
this  peerless  man  ?  Where  is  his  successor  ? 
Our  respect  for  Adam  is  variable.  But  for  this 
man,  who  traces  day  by  day,  age  by  age,  the  form- 
ing of  the  heavens,  the  building  of  the  earth,  the 
peopling  them,  by  slow  gradation,  with  fish  that 
swim,  and  birds  that  fly,  and  cattle  that  roam  the 
meadows,  — who  can  have  less  than  a  proud  admi- 
ration for  him?  What  else  of  his  period  has 
lasted  ?  Yet  here  are  the  words  that  come  from 
antiquity,  once  written,  once  spoken,  and  never 
lost ;  which  we  read  in  the  light  of  to-day  and  do 
not  care  to  change ;  which  expand  under  our 
eyes,  but  are  never  affrighted  by  our  search. 
They  are  like  notes  upon  the  sheet,  whose  melody 
has  not  been  discovered  until  now,  when  men 
whose  brain  and  fingers  are  full  of  music  wake 
the  silence  into  sound. 

There  are  other  separated  accounts  of  the 
former  things.  They  serve  to  mark  the  sublimity 
of  this.  They  resemble  one  another,  and  all 
reach  into  a  time  when  things  were  not  as  we 
behold  them.  They  find  a  beginning,  and  the 
stages  of  advance,  and  at  times  they  give  us  the 


22  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

story  of  creation  in  attractive  forms.  But  they 
do  not  commend  themselves  to  our  judgment. 
They  do  not  begin  with  the  Creator.  Usually 
they  start  with  chaos,  out  of  which  emerge  even 
the  gods.  With  discordant  beginnings,  the  course 
and  the  meaning  of  nature  could  not  be  the  same. 

Yet  the  other  systems  are  of  interest.  But 
they  are  complex,  mechanical,  making  much  of 
the  apparatus  for  constructing  worlds.  They 
are  in  bold  contrast  with  the  dignity  and  sim- 
plicity and  quietness  which  pervade  the  descrip- 
tion which  comes  to  us  from  the  Hebrews.  The 
account  which  we  have  deserves  the  more  praise, 
if,  besides  being  formed,  it  has  kept  the  integrity 
of  its  life  when  all  besides  has  suffered  change. 

One  is  almost  compelled,  and  quite  permitted, 
to  think  that  this  account  of  events  which  no 
man  saw  had  a  divine  origin,  and  was  preserved 
and  transmitted  under  special  care. 

I  do  not  wish  to  claim  too  much  for  one  man, 
as  if  he  alone  possessed  this  archaic  information 
which,  by  another  route,  has  now  reached  us. 
Probably  there  was  a  common  body  of  tradition, 
or  belief,  among  the  peoples  of  Western  Asia.  If 
this  is  so,  it  was  given  to  the  writer,  or  writers,  of 
the  first  chapters  of  Genesis  to  receive  the  tradi- 
tion, to  know  its  value,  to  separate  from  it  the 
degrading  ideas  which  are  found  in  other  systems, 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  28 

—  polytheism,  nature-worship,  and  all  which  be- 
longed with  them,  —  and  to  transmit  the  knowl- 
edge in  a  form  worthy  of  its  character.  In  this 
the  Creator  is  before  all  things,  and  He  is  to  be 
worshipped,  and  not  the  works  which  He  has 
made.  The  simple,  spiritual,  divine  tone  pervad- 
ing the  record  is  unexampled  in  those  times,  un- 
surpassed in  any  time.  No  one  will  understand 
me  to  say  that  these  writers  had  any  idea  of  that 
we  call  science  ;  any  intuitions  of  our  discoveries, 
and  foregleams  of  our  theories.  But  they  knew 
that  God  was  first,  and  that  He  created,  and  that 
life  ascended  to  the  highest  form  they  knew, 
which  is  the  highest  form  we  know.  We  are  not 
able  elsewhere  to  reach  so  far  into  the  past.  We 
read  the  story  of  nature  in  the  rocks,  turning  the 
leaves  and  spelling  out  the  words.  But  the 
broken  record  is  legible  only  about  "  half  way 
down  in  the  history  of  organic  events,"  and  it  is 
not  likely  that  the  earlier  pages  will  be  recovered. 
An  eminent  naturalist  states  it  in  this  way :  "  The 
dead  past  has  not  only  buried  its  dead,  but  has 
quite  effaced   the  burial  places." 

Our  account  of  the  creation  is  remarkable,  also, 
for  what  it  does  not  say.  Compare  the  traditions, 
still  preserved  in  books  of  stone,  which  made  the 
learning  of  other  peoples,  only  to  admire  the 
clearness  and  reasonableness  of  these  unstudied 


24  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

annals.  Of  method  nothing  is  detected.  Order 
is  declared  with  surprising  intelligence,  but  no 
bounds  are  set  around  the  working  of  the  Eter- 
nal, who  has  the  ages  in  his  keeping,  with  a 
thousand  years,  a  thousand  centuries,  for  a  day. 

It  has  been  left  for  men  to  find  out  the  ways  of 
the  Creator,  and  to  study  his  works ;  to  match 
life  with  life,  and  age  with  age  ;  to  search  the 
rocks  and  bring  their  hidden  treasures  to  the 
light ;  to  explore  the  heavens  and  learn  how  stars 
and  suns  were  made  ;  how  the  bands  of  Orion 
were  woven  and  the  sweet  influences  of  the  Plei- 
ades are  distilled.  The  argument  from  design  to 
the  Designer  has  been  contested,  but  the  principle 
survives.  Might  it  not  be  made  to  include  the 
obscurities  among  which  we  live,  which  give  to 
the  mind  good  exercise  and  fine  training  ?  The 
pearl  may  have  been  placed  at  the  bottom  of  the 
sea  to  give  the  diver  the  excitement  of  plunging 
into  the  deep  and  rising  with  his  prize.  There  is 
thoughtfulness  in  leaving  the  world's  making  un- 
written, save  in  its  deep  lines,  that  Ave  might  have 
the  pleasure  of  finding  it  oat;  hunting  its  mean- 
ings and  methods,  and  profiting  by  the  mental 
athletics.  What  privation  it  would  have  been  to 
discovery  and  research,  if  the  written  account  had 
been  complete  !  If  getting  truth  is  better  even 
than  having  it,  the  world  is  well  adjusted  to  our 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  25 

advantage.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  scientific  and 
philosophic  study  that  its  results  are  so  liberally 
confirmed  by  the  words  of  strange  origin  which 
begin  our  literature.  Learning  is  far  from  com- 
plete, as  we  gratefully  confess ;  but  the  grand 
truths  which  it  now  presents  with  enlarging  en- 
terprise have  high  sanction  in  the  laden  sentences 
which  so  long  revealed  and  so  long  concealed  the 
heaven  and  the  earth.  It  is  a  large  world  which 
lies  about  us  ;  which  has  come  forth  from  those 
far-off  events.  I  have  not  tried  to  count  them, 
but  I  have  been  told  there  are  now  upon  this 
globe  a  million,  or  a  million  and  a  half,  species  of 
animals  and  plants,  —  the  margin  is  liberal,  —  and 
that  there  have  been  a  hundred  times  as  many,  in 
inconceivable  variety.  We  look  up,  and  millions 
of  suns  shine  in  the  firmament  we  call  our  own, 
and  beyond  this  are  thousands  of  firmaments  with 
their  bright  worlds  moving  in  grandeur  and  splen- 
dor, in  order  and  quietness,  by  a  force  no  optic 
glass  can  discover,  while  the  careless  centuries 
watch  their  flight.  We  see  so  little  !  We  know 
so  little  !  There  are  both  wit  and  wisdom  in  the 
comment  of  Cardinal  Baronius  :  "  The  intention 
of  Holy  Scripture  is  to  teach  us  how  to  go  to 
heaven,  and  not  how  the  heavens  go."  We  can- 
not bring  creation  into  the  terms  which  describe 
our  own  work.     Yet  it  is  instructive  to  find  the 


26  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

laws  which  rule  in  lesser  matters  prevailing  in  the 
larger.  Even  analogy  and  similitude  have  their 
value.  It  was  interesting  to  have  one  who  had 
been  President  of  Harvard  College  argue  for  the 
reasonableness  of  miracles  from  the  law  of  the 
parabola;  and  to  hear  our  American  mathema- 
tician say  that  "  the  laws  of  mathematics  are  but 
the  expression  of  the  thoughts  of  God ; "  and  that 
the  mathematician  must  cling  to  "  the  spiritual 
view  of  the  origin  of  the  universe."  It  was  a 
Christian  who  wrote,  "  There  is  one  Lawgiver." 
The  beginning  of  all  is  found  in  the  strong  lines 
which  are  the  record  of  creation,  with  the  recur- 
ring refrain  which  marks  the  periods  which  have 
no  boundary  lines,  "  And  there  was  evening,  and 
there  was  morning,  one  day." 

But  the  crown  of  creation  we  have  not  yet 
reached.  We  have  kept  in  the  order  of  nature. 
A  few  words  complete  the  history  we  have 
admired.  It  is  a  moment  for  stillness.  The 
earth  stretches  around  us.  The  stars  are  over 
us.  The  fishes  range  the  seas.  The  birds  are  in 
the  air.  Life  moves  silently  in  its  work.  There 
is  no  one  here  to  think  of  this,  and  to  enjoy  it,  on 
all  the  hills,  over  all  the  fields.  It  is  virtually  an 
untenanted  world ;  not  deserted,  but  never  in- 
habited. Rest  for  a  moment,  and  think  on  the 
first  man  whose  foot  pressed  the  earth,  whose  eye 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  27 

looked  through  the  trees.  Human  history  has 
felt  no  words  more  eventful  than  these :  "  And 
God  created  man  in  his  own  image."  Where 
did  the  writer  we  are  coming  to  trust  learn  that? 
Where  he  learned  the  things  he  had  told  before. 
If  he  had  written  more  fully !  Perhaps  his  hand 
was  held,  and  not  impelled  as  some  have 
imagined.  It  is  certain  that  he  was  nearer  our 
own  time  in  his  thought  than  most  have  been  in 
the  years  between  us.  There  is  a  modern  rather 
than  a  mediaeval  tone  in  his  entire  narrative.  It 
is  steadily  progressive,  and  there  are  no  breaks  in 
it.  God  in  the  beginning.  Light,  earth,  sea; 
seed,  grass,  trees ;  sun,  moon,  stars  ;  living,  mov- 
ing creatures  in  the  sea,  and  on  the  land,  and 
above  the  earth,  —  it  reads  like  a  family  history  ; 
and  the  increasing  life  reaches  its  consummation 
in  man.  The  love  which  He  is  called  for  man, 
for  some  one  to  be  loved ;  for  one  to  enjoy  life 
and  delight  in  God. 

It  is  natural  to  suppose  there  was  a  relation- 
ship among  all  things  which  had  received  life 
from  the  one  source  of  life.  The  distinct 
periods,  whose  limit  our  author  appears  not  to 
have  known,  would  give  time  for  the  life  to  take 
on  its  higher  forms,  on  its  way  to  the  highest. 
What  are  the  stages  for,  unless  it  were  this  ? 
"  There  was  evening  and  there  was  morning,  one 


28  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

day.  And  there  was  evening  and  there  was 
morning,  a  second  day."  The  original  record  has 
a  kindly  look  toward  the  scientific  beliefs  which 
now  prevail.  If  the  ancient  annalist  knows  how 
long  we  have  been  in  reaching  them,  I  am  not  at 
all  sure  but  he  smiles  at  our  laggard  ways.  The 
connection  of  man  on  his  physical  side  with  the 
world  he  lives  in  and  with  other  forms  of  life 
seems  to  be  demonstrated.  Those  who  have 
given  the  most  attention  to  this  matter,  and  are 
the  best  qualified  to  have  an  opinion,  are  agreed 
that  this  is  true.  We  are  indebted  to  them  for 
the  pains  they  have  taken  to  make  us  intelligent 
concerning  ourselves  and  our  past.  They  startled 
us  at  first,  and  there  seemed  to  be  reason  for 
alarm.  But  that  is  over  ;  and  the  principle,  vari- 
ously modified  and  defined,  appears  to  be  estab- 
lished among  thoughtful  men.  This  has  come 
about  rapidly  enough.  It  is  wise  to  be  careful, 
that  is,  conservative,  in  affairs  of  importance, 
especially  those  with  which  we  are  not  familiar. 
If  a  discovery,  or  a  new  theory,  has  any  virtue  it 
will  be  willing  to  wait  till  its  credentials  can  be 
examined.  There  is  little  danger  at  present  that 
scientific  discoveries  will  be  kept  waiting  longer 
than  is  for  their  good.  The  things  which  have  a 
right  to  live  will  live.  There  is  no  need  of  saying 
now  —  I  am  sorry  there  was  ever  need  of  saying 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  29 

—  that  the  new  views  to  which  I  have  alluded, 
which  concern  the  life  of  men,  do  not  in  the  least 
separate  the  world  from  God.  If  there  is  any 
difference  to  be  imagined,  it  would  appear  that 
the  continual  presence  of  the  Creator  would  be 
even  more  necessary  through  the  gradual  rise  of 
man  from  a  humble  origin  than  in  a  sudden  crea- 
tion. "In  the  beginning  God"  is  firmer  than 
mountains  and  all  hills,  or  "the  great  globe  it- 
self." "  The  living  will "  must  endure,  and  move 
in  all  things.  There  are  more  things  to  be  studied 
and  known  than  before,  but  the  truth  we  knew 
before  remains.  It  is  not  all  an  open  country 
traversed  by  wide  roads.  But  the  way  is  clearer 
than  it  was.  The  increase  of  our  knowledge  of 
God's  ways  should  enlarge  our  confidence  in  Him. 
There  is  in  Genesis  another  account  of  the  cre- 
ation of  man  of  which  we  know  no  more  than  of 
the  first.  Somewhere,  at  some  time,  by  some  one, 
it  was  believed,  and  told,  and  written,  and  at 
length  placed  beside  the  first.  This  writer  did 
not  describe  creation  in  general.  He  may  have 
seen  the  earlier  description  or  tradition,  or  have 
heard  of  it.  He  began  by  saying  that  "  the 
heaven  and  the  earth  were  finished,  and  all  the 
host  of  them."  This  lacks  the  grandeur  of  the 
other.  Then  he  described  the  seventh  day,  the 
hallowed  day  of    rest ;    the   day  made    for    man, 


30  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

who,  even  to  this  time,  does  not  know  the  bless- 
ing that  is  in  it.  While  in  many  things  we 
have  advanced,  ive  have  lost  ground  in  regard  to 
this.  A  few  words  of  the  first  watering  of  the 
earth ;  and  he  wrote  his  account  of  the  creation 
of  the  man.  "  And  the  Lord  God  formed,"  — 
that  is  much  like  the  other,  "  God  created,"  — 
"  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,"  —  the 
other  writer  had  shown  the  dust,  —  "  and  breathed 
into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ;  and  man 
became  a  living  soul."  This  may  have  been 
by  one  act,  or  by  a  long-continued  bestowal  of 
life.  The  important  truth  is  that  it  was  done,  and 
a  man  was  "a  living  soul;"  not  merely  "a  living 
soul,"  but  one  constituted  by  the  breath  or  life  of 
the  Creator.  Our  fathers  read  this,  and  learned 
its  principal  truth —  God  made  man.  They  knew 
that  as  well  as  Ave  do.  But  how  was  the  dust 
gathered  up  into  the  shape  we  bear?  They  did 
not  know.  If  at  this  time  any  one  knows,  he  is  in 
hiding.  The  drawing  by  the  vanished  hand  is  so 
strong  that  it  cannot  be  mistaken  for  portraiture. 
The  story  is  well  guarded.  The  meaning  cannot 
be  missed.  I  think  there  is  nothing  more  daring 
and  realistic  than  this.  Indeed,  I  do  not  think  of 
anything  in  all  the  books  more  bold  and  impres- 
sive. I  cannot  even  try  to  imagine  it,  for  the 
attempt  to  give  it  form  would  take  from  its  sub- 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  31 

limity.  This  is  the  daring  picture  which  makes  us 
silent.  The  Almighty  pressed  his  lips  against  the 
nostrils  of  the  man  who  was  made  of  the  dust  of 
the  ground,  and  breathed  in  his  own  breath,  and 
man  became  "a  living  soul,"  a  divine  soul,  with 
the  breath  of  the  Creator  for  its  highest  life.  It  is 
a  picture,  a  sculpture,  a  description ;  but  the  one 
vital  truth  which  cannot  be  missed  or  misinter- 
preted is  this :  the  breath  of  God  unchanged 
became  the  breath  of  man  to  whom  it  was  given ; 
man  received  life  of  the  life  of  God.  With  this 
divine  life  he  was  a  living  soul.  At  that  moment 
religion  became  possible.  For  the  first  time  there 
was  in  the  new  earth  a  person  whom  God  could 
love  ;  upon  whom  He  could  lavish  his  love,  in  the 
blessedness  of  loving,  and  one  who  could  respond 
with  love.  If  it  was  a  delight  to  make  a  world, 
it  was  much  more  a  delight  to  make  a  man  who 
could  enjoy  it.  It  was  a  new  earth  when  a  man 
had  come  to  live  in  it,  and  a  new  heaven  when  he 
watched  the  courses  of  the  stars.  It  was  Godlike 
to  make  a  man.  Love  imparts  itself  and  needs  a 
man  to  receive  it.  Love  gives  joy,  and  a  man 
loved  of  God  will  live  in  joy,  and  love  gives  him 
being.  Love  is  in  the  divine  life,  and  in  the  life 
which  is  born  of  it,  and  by  reason  of  his  life  of 
love  man  can  live  in  the  joy  of  God.  Thus  love 
interprets  life  at  its  beginning. 


32  THE    CREATION    AND   MAN 

Here  is  the  mystery  of  life.  We  have  it,  and 
do  not  know  what  it  is.  There  are  no  words  to 
make  it  clearer.  Alone  in  its  presence  we  are 
silenced.  I  recall  an  impressive  hour  long  ago, 
when  an  eminent  naturalist  uncovered  the  heart 
of  the  smallest  bird.  It  was  only  a  description, 
but  the  listeners  were  hushed  as  in  worship, 
when  the  point  of  life  was  reached,  revealed,  un- 
veiled. He  parted  the  soft  feathers,  divided  the 
delicate  skin,  opened  the  fragile  framework ;  and 
there  was  the  tiny  heart,  quietly  beating  through 
it  all,  its  hidden  forces  working  uncomplainingly, 
and  holding  the  fair  creature  in  being,  with  a  skill 
and  strength  which  all  the  cunning  of  the  world 
could  not  imitate.  It  was  a  moment  which  has 
never  lost  its  awe,  when  I  saw  the  life  of  the 
Eternal  throbbing  in  the  heart  of  a  humming- 
bird. 

"  And  man  became  a  living  soul."  This  is  lit- 
eral. This  is  the  important  fact  in  creation,  and 
is  more  easily  understood  than  the  events  which 
surround  it.  The  picture  is  simpler  than  the 
frame,  and  less  showy.  A  very  strong  outline 
was  drawn,  and  it  was  left  for  men  of  a  later  time 
to  fill  it  in.  Man  was  essentially  allied  with  the 
earth,  and  with  forms  of  life  other  than  his  own. 
He  came  by  slow  degrees  from  a  very  simple  con- 
dition to  the  estate  which  he  has  held  for  the  more 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  33 

recent  centuries.  This  we  are  taught.  He  was 
also  especially  allied  with  God  by  his  life,  and 
particularly  by  his  spiritual  life,  in  which  was 
his  likeness  to  the  Creator.  What  was  the  living 
soul  which  man  became  ?  By  this  he  diverged 
from  the  living  creatures  around  him,  not  disown- 
ing the  relationship,  but  going  away  in  paths  of 
his  own.  It  was  the  spiritual,  to  use  the  common 
term ;  the  psychical,  to  use  the  word  endeared 
to  philosophy,  which  was  to  have  control,  and  to 
be  advanced.  This  was  the  man,  who  of  his  supe- 
rior endowments  was  to  have  rule  over  his  humble 
neighbors.  This  is  the  man  for  whom  religion  is 
possible. 

I  am  especially  desirous  to  emphasize  the  fact 
of  life.  I  intend  to  do  this  all  the  way.  It  is  the 
continuous  thought  of  these  pages.  I  might  have 
entitled  them  One  Life.  In  the  beginning  God. 
There  was  no  life  but  God.  Of  his  own  life  He 
created  all  that  lived.  The  process  of  creation  is 
not  disclosed.  In  its  nature  it  is  "unthinkable." 
Some  things  are  known  which  entered  into  it, 
and  we  may  discover  more.  But  we  shall  never 
comprehend  creation.  Things  did  not  come 
forth  from  God,  out  of  his  own  being,  as  fruit 
comes  from  a  tree,  as  light  from  the  sun.  He 
created,  and  to  all  that  lived  He  gave  life ;  gave 
of  his  own  life ;  or,  if  one  thinks  He  gave  an  inf e- 


34  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

rior  life,  that  must  have  come  from  his  life  and 
have  been  like  it.  Only  life  gives  life  and  there 
was  no  life  hut  God.  The  vital  point,  then,  the 
meaning,  is  this,  that  all  things  live  by  the  life 
of  God.  We  are  startled,  silenced,  when  we 
think  that  the  oak  and  the  ivy  are  one  life ;  the 
Cedar  of  Lebanon  and  the  "  primrose  by  a  river's 
brim ; "  the  angel  and  the  man ;  the  archangel 
and  the  primrose  !  Of  course  life  could  be  given, 
and  was  given,  in  higher  and  finer  measure  to  a 
bird  than  to  a  bush  ;  to  a  man  than  to  the  un- 
discovered form  next  below  him.  It  was  so  very 
much  more,  and  in  a  form  so  very  much  higher, 
that  we  may  well  call  it  a  different  life.  I  have 
wished  to  point  out  the  one  origin  of  life,  and  it 
is  only  as  it  relates  to  the  life  of  man  that  we 
are  now  interested  in  it.  There  is  his  common, 
lower  relationship,  in  being,  existence,  vitality. 
Then  comes  the  higher,  in  thought,  affection, 
will,  and  this  is  man's.  Man,  only  man  upon 
the  earth,  received  directly  the  breath  of  the 
Eternal,  and  became  a  living  soul,  and  was  in 
the  image  and  likeness  of  his  Maker.  He  is  man 
by  virtue  of  this  which  allies  him  with  God,  not 
by  that  which  gives  him  kindred  with  the  life 
that  is  in  the  world.  He  received  as  the  greater 
gift,  the  divine  gift,  which  was  to  belong  to  him 
and  to   no  other,  the  life   of   his   Creator  in  its 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  35 

highest  forms,  spiritual  and  eternal.  With  this 
creation  was  completed.  The  life  would  need  to 
be  continued  by  Him  who  gave  it.  The  divine 
gift  of  life  would  not  be  withdrawn.  "  The 
greatest  contribution  of  modern  science  to  human 
thought "  is  "  the  idea  of  the  continuity  of  caus- 
ation " — such  is  its  own  claim.  Man's  chief  inter- 
est is  in  his  new  life  which  makes  him  the  child 
of  God.  He  may  not  disown  the  physical,  but 
he  must  be  constantly  mindful  of  the  spiritual 
life.  He  must  look  up.  He  must  and  can  live 
in  God,  with  thought,  affection,  purpose,  con- 
duct. If  we  think  of  God  as  immanent  in  all 
that  lives,  as  regards  man  He  is  also  transcend- 
ent, above,  beyond,  to  be  trusted  and  worshipped. 
The  divine  image  must  be  steadily  enlarged  by 
thinking  of  God,  conversing  with  Him,  abiding 
under  his  influence,  under  the  spell  of  his  per- 
fection, changing  his  desire  into  thought  and 
deed,  growing  up  "in  all  things  into  Him." 
No  limit  is  to  be  discerned.  "  Godly  "  is  an 
eternal  word.  It  is  the  largest  term  which  can 
be  applied  to  man.  To  be  "  like  Him  "  is  the 
brightest  vision  of  the  New  Testament.  The 
reason  of  it  is  here,  in  this  divine  nature  whereby 
a  man  is  the  child  of  God. 

If  I  have  wandered,  I  could  not  help  it.     Let 
us  return.     The  breath  of  God  is  the  true  life  of 


36  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

man.  It  is  the  Man.  We  call  it  the  Soul.  It 
were  better  to  call  it  the  Man.  This,  not  less 
than  this,  is  his  distinctive  character. 

But  when  was  the  soul  given  ?  When  did  man 
begin  ?  I  turn  to  the  old  record  which  has  proved 
its  right  to  respect,  but  it  does  not  commit  itself, 
though  a  single  word  would  have  told  us  all  the 
writer  knew.  It  looks  as  if  man  was  made  of  the 
dust,  and  that  when  this  form  was  completed  and 
endowed  with  common  life,  the  living  soul  was  in 
a  single  act  breathed  into  it.  This  has  been  a 
common  theory  and  has  not  been  disproved.  One 
purely  scientific  view  sees  in  the  soul  a  develop- 
ment of  faculties  which  are  recognized  in  the 
associated  forms  of  life.  It  traces  the  process  of 
the  increase  through  the  gradual  appearance  of 
spiritual  life.  But  in  this  method  there  is  oppor- 
tunity for  special  additions  of  spiritual  life  at  any 
time  when  the  advance  needs  to  be  j>romoted,  and 
the  final  result  hastened.  The  belief  that  this  was 
a  distinct  gift,  added  to  all  that  was  before  it,  is 
most  in  accord  with  the  usual,  continuous  thought 
of  men,  and  is  naturally  suggested  by  the  narra- 
tive in  Genesis.  It  is  a  fascinating  study,  but  we 
have  to  do  with  it  now  only  so  far  as  to  assure 
ourselves  that  man  has  a  spiritual  nature  and  that 
this  is  the  gift  of  God.  It  is  preeminently  the 
life  of  God  which  is  given  only  to  man.     It  is  a 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  37 

very  old  question,  in  what  way  man  received  his 
soul.  Traducianism  and  Creationism  are  obsolete 
terms ;  but  time  was  when  they  were  names  to 
fight  for.  Tertullian  in  the  Western  Church 
taught  that  the  soul  was  once  for  all  created  and 
then  by  natural  generation  propagated  with  the 
body.  Later,  Augustine  is  found  wrestling  with 
the  problem,  and  offended  by  Tertullian,  turning 
to  Jerome  with  a  cry  for  light.  "  Teach  me  there- 
fore, I  beg  you,  what  I  should  teach,  what  I  should 
hold ;  and  tell  me  if  it  be  true  that  souls  are  made 
now  and  separately  with  each  separate  birth; 
.  .  .  not  all  from  the  one  soul,  of  the  first 
man,  but  for  every  man  a  separate  soul,  like  that 
one  for  Adam."  The  question  was  of  importance 
by  reason  of  its  connection  with  other  doctrines. 
Some  held  that  for  each  individual  a  new  soul 
was  created  and  added  to  the  body  and  its  life. 
While  still  others,  among  them  Origen  and  many 
in  the  Eastern  Church,  accepted  the  teaching  of 
Plato,  that  human  souls  existed  from  the  begin- 
ning, and  through  the  birth  of  a  child  attained  to 
their  actual  and  personal  life.  I  touch  on  these 
theories,  which  once  were  alive,  that  we  may  mark 
how  little  of  novelty  there  is  in  the  subjects  of 
thought.  "  Whence  came  the  soul  we  no  more 
know  than  we  know  whence  came  the  universe," 
is  the  remark  of  a  teacher  among  us.     The  com- 


38  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

parison  is  good.  If  we  no  more  know,  we  no 
less  know.  Pardon  me  if  I  let  another,  at  once 
philosopher  and  historian,  tell  us  how,  in  his 
opinion,  the  case  stands  to-day.  "  The  Platonic 
view  of  the  soul,  as  a  spiritual  substance,  an 
effluence  from  Godhood,  which  under  certain  con- 
ditions becomes  incarnate  in  perishable  forms  of 
matter,  is  doubtless  the  view  most  consonant  with 
the  present  state  of  our  knowledge."  "  The  Lord 
God  breathed  into  his  nostrils  "  is  the  primitive 
form  of  the  more  elegant  expression,  "  an  effluence 
from  Godhood."  Thus  extremes  meet ;  Genesis 
and  to-day's  philosophy.  It  is  to  the  credit  of 
both.  Nothing  since  Plato,  on  the  essential  truth  ! 
All  I  am  concerned  with  is  that  the  soul  life  is 
from  God  and  of  God,  and  must  always  be  related 
to  Him ;  for  He  must  sustain  what  He  has  be- 
stowed. It  was  a  most  notable  event  when  man, 
the  being  with  a  soul,  appeared.  May  I  let  other 
masters  speak  ?  "  The  law  of  generational  advance 
has  in  man  undergone  a  sudden,  indeed  we  may 
say  a  paroxysmal,  alteration.  .  .  .  Our  own 
species  appears,  from  the  point  of  view  of  its 
supreme  success,  not  only  most  exceptional,  but 
absolutely  alone  in  the  history  of  this  sphere. 
.  If  to-morrow  man  should  disappear  from 
the  planet,  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  by 
any  process  of  change  a  similar  creature  would 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  39 

be  evolved,  however  long  the  animal  kingdom 
continued  to  exist."  The  appearance  of  man 
opened  "  an  entirely  new  chapter  in  the  mysterious 
history  of  creation."  "  Not  the  production  of 
any  higher  creature,  hut  the  perfecting  of 
Humanity,  is  to  be  the  glorious  consummation 
of   Nature's  long  and  tedious  work." 

We  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  dignity  of  man  in 
this  light  which  is  thrown  upon  his  history  ;  his 
increased  worth  by  reason  of  the  patient  care 
which  has  advanced  him  in  power;  and  the 
greater  assurance  that  he  will  continue  to  be  the 
object  of  the  divine  love,  which  will  spare  itself 
nothing  that  its  work  may  be  perfected.  Man's 
history  is  prophecy.  His  experience  is  promise. 
His  way  leads  upward.  It  doth  not  yet  appear 
what  he  shall  be.  If  any  one  is  curious  to  know 
Man,  I  cannot  point  even  now  to  anything  more 
interesting  than  Plato's  account  of  the  soul.  We 
recall  it ;  that  there  is  in  man  a  divine  nature  of 
which  God  is  the  artificer,  and  that  the  junior 
gods  were  set  to  produce  the  mortal  nature. 
The  mortal  body  was  made  as  if  turned  in 
a  lathe,  and  in  this  was  placed  the  immortal 
principle.  The  two  natures  had  different  parts 
of  the  body,  with  the  neck  as  an  isthmus  be- 
tween. It  is  strengthening  to  read  his  estimate 
of   the  real   soul  of   man :  "  After  the  gods,  the 


40  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

most  divine  of  all  his  possessions  as  being  most 
his  own."  The  body  is  "according  to  nature 
ruled  over  by  the  ruling  soul."  The  soul  is  a 
goddess,  ever  taking  mind  as  an  ally.  The  soul 
is  to  be  honored  "in  the  second  rank  after  the 
gods."  It  is  to  have  care  in  the  present,  and  for 
all  time.  "The  danger  would  appear  to  be 
dreadful  if  one  should  neglect  it."  This  is 
wholesome  reading.  Is  it  true  now  as  the  wise 
old  Greek  wrote,  that  "  Not  one,  so  to  say, 
honours  his  soul  properly "  ?  Let  these  serious 
words  stay  in  our  minds. 

When  we  think  who  man  is  we  are  not  sur- 
prised that  in  all  places  he  is  aware  of  God. 
What  is  this  but  that  the  undivided  life  of  God, 
being  in  a  man,  is  conscious  of  the  life  which 
has  not  been  imparted,  and  is  in  God  alone  ? 
Why  should  not  the  part  feel  the  whole  to 
which  it  belongs  ?  We  cannot  be  surprised  at 
such  expressions  as  "  that  immediate  knowledge  of 
God  "  which  is  our  "  normal  state  of  existence," 
the  "  quickening,  life-giving  God-sense,"  and  the 
almost  divine  talent  for  knowing  God.  The  last 
biographer  of  Jonathan  Edwards  relates  that 
"  the  God  consciousness  was  the  deepest  sub- 
stratum of  his  being,"  and  that  in  him  was  "  a 
divine  and  supernatural  light."  The  same 
divine    consciousness    is    ascribed    to    men    like 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  41 

Thomas  Erskine  and  Frederick  Maurice.  The 
words  of  Dr.  Mulford  are  vigorous  and  clear 
when  he  writes  that  "  man  is  conscious  of  the 
being  of  God,  and  lives  and  acts  in  this  con- 
sciousness, and  the  reality  of  the  being  of  God 
so  comes  to  him.  The  being  of  God  is  the  primal 
truth.  It  is  primitive  in  human  thought ;  there 
is  nothing  before  it,  nor  apart  from  it,  from  which 
it  is  to  be  derived.  Thus  the  being  of  God  has 
not  its  foundation  in  the  life  of  humanity,  but 
humanity  has  its  foundation  in  the  life  of  God.1' 
I  venture  to  like  my  own  way  of  stating  it,  crude 
and  formal  as  it  is  ;  the  portion  of  the  life  of  God 
which  is  in  a  man  is  conscious  of  the  whole  life  in 
which  it  belongs. 

It  is  true,  as  we  are  told  with  wearisome  and 
perhaps  needless  repetition,  that  we  are  not  able 
to  conceive  absolute  being  with  an  approach  to 
completeness.  We  cannot  grasp  the  infinite. 
Yet  within  the  limit  of  our  powers  we  can  secure 
and  retain  a  knowledge  which  shall  be  larger  than 
we  can  bound,  and  can  be  thoroughly  trustworthy. 
Our  thought  of  the  Absolute  Being,  for  whom 
God  is  the  accepted  and  sufficient  name,  will  be 
more  distinct  at  certain  times  and  in  certain  per- 
sons than  in  other  minds  and  under  different  con- 
ditions. But  the  consciousness  of  his  being  is 
fixed  in  our  nature  and  cannot  be  removed,  nor 


42  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

long  suppressed.  "  The  manifestation  of  the  un- 
knowable "  is  to  be  found  in  all  things.  Then  it 
would  seem  that  so  far  He  is  not  the  unknowable, 
if  we  give  to  words  their  usual  significance. 
Reality  and  degree  are  not  identical,  and  we  know 
in  part.  "The  belief  in  a  Power  of  which  no 
limit  in  Time  or  Space  can  be  conceived  is  that 
fundamental  element  in  Religion  which  survives 
all  its  changes  of  form."  "  This  inexpugnable 
consciousness,  in  which  Religion  and  Philosophy 
are  at  one  with  Common-Sense,  proved  to  be  like- 
wise that  on  which  all  exact  Science  is  based." 
The  "  necessary  datum  of  consciousness  "  sustains 
the  confident  appeal  which  is  made  to  it.  I  have 
repeated  the  word  and  thought  of  Spencer.  He 
did  not  approve  the  conclusion  of  Mansel,  which 
he  quotes ;  yet  in  view  of  all  which  has  just  been 
said,  while  confessing  the  limits  of  intelligence 
and  of  obligation,  in  our  ordinary  manner  of  think- 
ing and  speaking  it  does  not  seem  too  much  to 
assert,  that  "It  is  our  duty  to  think  of  God  as 
personal ;  and  it  is  our  duty  to  believe  that  He  is 
infinite." 

The  belief  in  powers  greater  than  man,  in 
nature  or  beyond  it,  though  often  dim  and  rude, 
hardly  to  be  discerned,  is  apparently  nowhere 
entirely  wanting.  The  universal  and  persistent 
instincts  which   stand   in    our  creation  are  with 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  43 

authority.  The  religions  of  the  world,  various 
as  the  tribes  of  men,  confess  a  divine  presence. 
The  Greek  saw  a  Father  in  Zeus,  whom  he  ad- 
dressed as  Father  of  gods  and  men.  Upon  Mars' 
Hill  St.  Paul  appealed  to  the  Athenians  whose 
city  was  crowded  with  altars,  and  declared  the 
unknown  God  who  made  the  world  and  all  things 
therein,  in  whom  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being,  and  confirmed  his  teaching  by  their  own 
poet,  Aratus : 

With  Zeus  begin  we.     Let  no  mortal  voice 

Leave  Zeus  unpraised.     Zeus  fills  the  haunts  of  men, 

The  streets,  the  marts.     Zeus  fills  the  sea,  the  shores, 

The  harbours, —  everywhere  we  live  in  Zeus. 

We  are  his  offspring  too. 

Men  worship  Him,  the  First,  the  Last. 

Their  Father  —  Wonderful  —  their  Help  and  Shield. 

They  were  "  somewhat  superstitious,"  the 
courteous  preacher  remarked;  but  from  their 
superstition  he  attempted  to  lead  them  in  rational 
ways  to  God.  The  argument  for  his  being 
which  is  found  in  marks  of  design  can  never 
lose  its  force.  The  common  mind  will  trace 
the  signs  of  thought  and  plan,  and  cannot  be 
persuaded  from  it.  It  will  find  "  a  permanent 
guiding  influence."  The  eye  is  the  witness  to 
the  design  which  was  in  its  making,  and  the  star 


44  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

whose  light  it  catches ;  the  lily,  and  the  child's 
fingers  closing  around  it. 

When  Vanini,  burned  as  an  atheist,  was  asked 
if  he  believed  in  God  he  took  a  straw  from  the  floor 
and  made  it  his  answer.  Not  convincing,  possi- 
bly ;  but  after  this  method  men  will  reason  to  the 
end.  The  habit  leagues  itself  with  the  native 
feeling  of  the  soul,  and  looks  up  to  God.  It 
takes  a  finer  form,  and  the  love  of  nature  which 
distinguished  the  Aryan  people  rises  till  it  finds 
the  answering  love  beyond.  But  who  shall  meas- 
ure "  the  Great  Necessity  "  ?  Asa  Gray  saw  the 
presence  of  design  in  the  "  exquisite  adaptations  " 
in  which  he  delighted;  and  he  believed  that 
44  without  the  implication  of  a  superintending 
wisdom  nothing  is  made  out,  and  nothing  credi- 
ble." He  liked  to  watch  the  changing  forms  of 
life  as  it  was  led  along  "  beneficial  lines."  His 
innocent,  "  indefatigable  hours  "  were  rich  in  the 
thought  of  the  God  whom  he  loved. 

It  is  an  impressive  moment  when  a  man  feels 
himself  in  the  presence  of  his  Creator.  The  deeps 
of  his  nature  are  moved.  All  that  is  divine  re- 
sponds to  the  divine  life  which  touches,  encloses, 
arouses  it.  Such  moments  are  not  very  rare.  In 
some  degree  they  are  even  common.  They 
might  be  more  common  and  to  our  great  advan- 
tage.    I  call  to  mind  as  I  say  this  one  whose  pop- 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  45 

ular  fame  among  us  began  with  his  "  Lectures  on 
the  Plan  of  the  Creation."  His  voice  hesitating 
with  a  strange  language,  his  hand  skilful  to  draw 
what  he  could  not  tell,  his  new  learning,  his  mag- 
nificent countenance,  carried  him  quickly  into  his 
deserved  and  sustained  renown.  Yet  there  were 
few  times  in  his  long  life  when  the  man  was  seen 
so  grandly  as  on  the  day  when  he  opened  his  sum- 
mer school  at  Penikese.  The  island  barn  had 
been  made  ready,  the  swallows  whose  nests  were 
undisturbed  flew  in  and  out,  the  breeze  from  the 
sea  came  pleasantly  through  the  open  doors,  the 
scholars  who  had  gathered  for  the  rare  privilege 
of  learning  from  him  waited  for  his  voice.  He 
was  not  the  teacher,  not  yet ;  the  peace,  the  light, 
the  young  life,  the  surrounding  waters,  the  out- 
lying world  and  worlds,  appealed  to  his  sensitive 
heart,  and  he  could  not  teach.  He  could  only 
pray,  and  bid  the  rest  pray  with  him.  Into  the 
light,  into  the  spirit  which  was  closer  than  the 
air,  to  the  Creator  among  whose  works  they  stood, 
silently  he  breathed  out  his  prayer.  He  had  not 
thought  to  do  so,  probably;  he  felt  the  divine 
presence,  and  he  had  to  speak  to  it  in  adoration, 
before  he  spoke  to  men  of  its  works.  Thus  life 
confessed  the  fellowship  of  life.  He  was  drawn 
aside,  drawn  and  impelled.  Nothing  in  all  the 
history  of  his  schools  is  finer  than  the  sight  of 


46  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

that  great  soul  exchanging  thought  with  its 
Maker.  He  is  renowned  in  the  scientific  world 
for  "classification."  He  classified  himself  with 
God. 

After  that  it  was  little  to  write  that  "  A  physi- 
cal fact  is  as  sacred  as  a  moral  principle."  For  a 
physical  fact  is  a  moral  principle.  Whether  a 
divine  thought  is  expressed  in  stone  or  statute,  in 
the  descent  of  a  glacier  or  the  framing  of  a  law, 
it  witnesses  to  its  origin.  u  Our  own  nature  de- 
mands of  us  this  double  allegiance,"  he  said.  This 
double  allegiance  ruled  in  the  old  astronomer, 
who  looked  at  night  from  among  his  sheep  into 
the  nearer  sky,  and  sang  of  the  stars  and  Him 
who  lighted  them ;  "  The  heavens  declare  the 
glory  of  God."  Then  he  lost  sight  of  the  stars, 
and  still  he  sang,  "  The  law  of  the  Lord  is  perfect, 
restoring  the  soul."  His  whole  being  thrilled 
with  the  glory  and  perfection,  visible  and  invisi- 
ble, till  he  longed  to  be  in  harmony  with  the 
beauty  around  him.  "  Let  the  words  of  my 
mouth  and  the  meditation  of  my  heart  be 
acceptable  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord,  my  rock  and 
my  redeemer."  Here,  again,  was  the  life  in  a 
man  claiming  kinship  with  the  divine  life  which 
it  felt. 

To  come  nearer,  one  of  the  most  sublime  places 
on  which  I  have  ever  stood  was  the  upper  bridge 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  47 

of  a  large  steamer  in  mid-ocean  and  at  night. 
The  ship  with  her  hundreds  of  souls  was  quiet 
beneath,  while  driven  onward  by  the  hidden  forces 
within  her.  The  throb  was  felt,  the  power  was 
concealed.  Around  stretched  the  sustaining  sea, 
in  the  dimness  unpeopled.  Above  were  the  silent 
heavens,  pointed  with  light,  and  closer  than  the 
world,  clearer  to  the  sight  than  the  deck  over 
which  the  shadows  of  men  flitted.  It  was,  in  its 
feeling,  almost  to  be  away  from  the  earth  and 
among  the  stars.  Then  the  gray-haired  officer 
turned  his  optic  glass  to  a  planet  thousands  of 
miles  beyond,  and  caught  its  light,  and  learned 
from  it  where  we  were  upon  the  waste  of  waters. 
A  sailor  stood  with  a  lantern  that  the  telltale 
figures  might  be  registered.  There  was  no  sound. 
Solemnity  as  of  another  world  rested  on  the  little 
group  of  men.  To  my  unaccustomed  heart  it  was 
more  than  easy  to  feel  the  life  which  filled  the 
limitless  space,  to  see  the  fingers  which  marked 
their  courses  for  the  stars,  to  be  aware  of  God. 
For  it  was  life  answering  to  life. 

How  delightful,  how  superb,  for  man  to  know 
God,  to  be  assured  of  his  presence ;  to  know  him- 
self, also  ;  to  be  conscious  of  his  life,  to  feel  the 
fellowship  of  his  breath  with  the  breath  from  which 
it  was  breathed,  and  the  intercourse  of  soul  with 
soul !     I   do   not  know  that  it  is  demonstrated. 


48  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

Perhaps  it  is  better.  The  best  things  are  rather 
felt  than  proved. 

The  conscience,  too,  speaks  for  God.  It  repre- 
sents Him  in  the  human  soul.  It  recognizes  its 
sovereign,  and  declares  only  its  derived  authority. 
All  the  provinces  of  the  right  acknowledge  Him. 
The  moral  order  of  the  world  calls  for  a  moral 
orderer ;  a  power  ruling  for  righteousness  ;  insur- 
ing the  good  of  those  who  do  right,  and  with 
judgment  visiting  the  evil-doer.  We  may  find  on 
every  side,  without,  within,  the  "  indelible  marks 
of  a  morally  constituted  world,  moving  toward 
righteous  ends."  Kant  was  reasonable  in  his 
argument  that  in  another  world  the  deserts  of 
men,  delayed  here,  must  be  meted  out  to  them, 
and  that  this  means  God.  "  For  right  is  right, 
since  God  is  God."  Even  beyond  the  thought  of 
results,  of  reward  or  loss,  truth  and  right  claim 
our  allegiance.  With  authority  and  high  sanc- 
tions does  duty  address  itself  to  us  and  command 
obedience. 

Turn  where  we  will,  in  the  mind  of  man  lies 
the  necessity  for  God,  the  Eternal,  the  Perfect, 
the  Almighty.  We  like  the  simple  description 
which  Victor  Hugo  gives  of  the  old  woman :  "  A 
pious  creature,  poor,  and  charitable  to  the  poor 
and  even  to  the  rich,  who  could  just  write  her 
name,  k  Marguerite,'  and  believed  in  God,  which 


THE    CREATION    AND    MAN  49 

is  knowledge.  There  are  many  such  virtues  down 
here,  and  one  day  they  will  be  up  above,  for  this 
life  has  a  morrow." 

I  am  not  trying  to  demonstrate  the  existence 
of  God,  as  if  to  those  who  do  not  know  it.  I 
am  not  ignorant  of  the  replies  that  are  spoken 
after  our  reasoning.  There  is  sadness  in  them  all. 
It  would  be  a  terrible  thing  to  live  in  a  world 
without  God.  It  is  a  fearful  thing  to  live  and 
not  see  Him.  "  I  will  not  leave  you  orphans," 
the  Teacher  said.  After  all  replies  men  still 
know  there  is  God.  It  is  man  who  knows  it; 
who  feels  it  in  himself,  sees  it  in  the  world, 
reads  it  in  history,  discerns  it  in  experience, 
perceives  it  in  the  moral  order  which  encloses 
him,  finds  it  when  he  sounds  his  deepest  intui- 
tions ;  the  feelings,  principles,  aspirations,  which 
underlie  his  life.  If  to  any  one  it  seems  too 
bold  a  thing  to  say  that  man  is  a  necessity,  it 
is  not  much  too  bold.  For  akin  to  the  need  for 
God,  if  any  life  is  to  be,  is  his  need  of  one  to 
know  Him;  to  receive  of  his  life  and  love;  to 
braid  the  thread  of  divine  thought  which  encom- 
passes him  with  the  thread  of  human  thought 
which,  unbroken,  reaches  the  Eternal.  Life 
must  create.  It  is  its  nature  and  pleasure ;  and 
creation  is  the  larger  name  of  man.  It  is  a 
stupendous  truth  that  man  knows  his  Maker  and 


50  THE    CREATION    AND    MAN 

is  instructed  to  call  him  Father,  for  that  is   his 
Name. 

I  have  spoken  the  two  words  which  are  at  the 
opening  of  our  study  —  God,  Man.  In  the  begin- 
ning God,  afterward  man ;  and  the  life  of  God  is 
the  life  of  man.  "The  descent  into  our  own 
souls  is  the  ascent  to  God."  "  To  penetrate  the 
secret  of  man  is  to  discover  the  truth  of  God." 
"  He  hath  made  everything  beautiful  in  its  time ; 
also  He  hath  set  eternity  in  the  heart  of  man." 


II 


THE  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   THE  OLDEST 
LITERATURE 


THE  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  THE  OLDEST 
LITERATURE 


The  new  world  had  its  tenant.  He  was  in  the 
image  and  likeness  of  the  Maker  of  both  house  and 
householder.  It  was  fitting  that  it  should  be  so,  if 
the  world  was  to  fulfil  its  design,  and  there  was  to 
be  agreement  through  the  whole  plan  and  in  the 
method  of  its  working  out.  Neither  man  nor 
world  was  a  mechanism  which  could  run,  or  was 
desired  to  run,  by  its  own  force,  or  after  its  own 
skill.  The  power  which  had  made  was  the  power 
which  was  prepared  to  keep.  Between  God  and 
the  earth  was  man.  By  steps  which  we  cannot 
measure,  or  describe,  he  had  come  to  his  estate ; 
and  to  all  which  made  him  like  the  living  creatures 
over  whom  he  had  a  delegated  dominion,  and  who 
answered  to  the  names  he  gave,  was  added  the 
spiritual  endowment  in  which  he  was  like  his 
Creator.  The  union  of  the  two  kinds  of  life  was 
exact,  but  the  difference  between  them  was  infi- 
nite. The  words  under  which  so  many  have  passed 
into  the  sacred  quiet  of  Mount  Auburn  remind  us 


54    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

in  our  most  thoughtful  mood  of  a  separation  which 
was  distinct  from  birth :  "  Then  shall  the  dust 
return  to  the  earth  as  it  was  ;  and  the  spirit  shall 
return  unto  God  who  gave  it."  The  part  which 
was  "contextured  in  the  Loom  of  Heaven,"  as 
Carlyle  describes  it,  is  to  be  laid  aside.  But  the 
spirit  ascends.  "  Well  said  Saint  Chrysostom, 
with  his  lips  of  gold,  the  true  Shekinah  is  Man." 
In  him  God's  presence  is  manifested  to  our  eyes 
and  hearts.  To  tell  precisely  where  the  line 
which  divides  must  be  drawn  is  beyond  the  wit  of 
man.  I  think  that  we  prefer  to  have  it  so.  But 
man  was  created  in  the  "  image  of  God."  The 
description  is  exalted.  There  is  no  stop,  no  pause 
even,  on  the  way.  The  likeness  reaches  the  Cre- 
ator. By  no  stretch  of  the  imagination  could 
man  be  said  to  be  in  the  likeness  of  anything 
which  had  been  made.  How  completely  all 
thought  of  an  origin  less  than  divine  is  ruled  out 
by  such  a  word  as  "  image  "  !  The  greatness  of 
man  proclaims  the  greatness  of  his  Creator.  But 
is  the  word  "  image  "  proper  ?  Evidently  it  is. 
If  man  is  not  an  accident,  a  chance  appearance, 
the  thought  which  he  has  fulfilled  belonged  to  one 
greater  than  himself.  To  be  able  to  think  man, 
and  to  give  him  being,  required  God.  Man  is  to 
be  accounted  for.  No  way  has  been  found  but 
this.     That  man  is  able  to  think  of  God  and  does 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE    bb 

think  of  Him,  is  suggestive  of  his  origin  and 
descent.  Pascal's  familiar  words  are  heavy  with 
meaning :  "  Man  is  but  a  reed,  the  weakest  in 
nature,  but  he  is  a  thinking  reed.  Were  the 
universe  to  crush  him,  man  would  still  be  more 
noble  than  that  which  kills  him,  because  he  knows 
that  he  dies,  and  the  universe  knows  nothing  of 
the  advantage  it  has  over  him."  The  fathers  felt 
the  divine  creative  presence.  They  certainly  did 
not  worship  "  an  absentee  God,  sitting  idle  ever 
since  the  first  Sabbath,  at  the  outside  of  his  uni- 
verse." They  believed  in  providence,  in  a  special 
providence,  and  felt  there  was  a  power  around 
them  and  beyond  them  to  be  worshipped  and 
loved.  They  lived  in  his  light,  died  under  his 
shield,  looked  for  his  reward.  They  were  "  made 
of  the  same  stuff  of  Avhich  events  are  made."  It 
is  not  difficult  to  trace  in  man  the  likeness  to  his 
Maker  which  is  his  grand  distinction.  He  thinks, 
reasons,  recalls  ;  he  has  conscience,  will,  freedom  ; 
he  can  govern  and  judge  himself ;  he  has  visions 
of  the  future,  with  aspirations  and  ambitions 
winch  resemble  foreknowledge ;  he  feels  his  end- 
less life.  With  this  he  knows  his  Creator,  listens 
to  Him,  speaks  to  Him,  obeys  Him,  loves  Him,  by 
virtue  of  the  response  of  his  nature  to  the  life 
which  gave  it  and  maintains  it.  In  a  phrase 
written  long  afterward,  he  is  a  "  partaker  of  the 


56     COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

divine  nature."  In  the  revised  version  a  psalmist 
is  made  to  say  that  man  was  made  "  but  little 
lower  than  God."  We  prefer  the  epistle  which 
shows  him  "a  little  lower  than  the  angels." 

We  have  not  come  upon  that  word  until  now, 
for  it  is  not  in  our  present  purpose,  and  I  do  not 
know  where  the  angels  should  enter  in.  Before 
man,  doubtless,  but  in  the  same  order  of  intelli- 
gence, for  we  can  hardly  think  of  the  vast  spaces 
as  uninhabited  save  by  the  Eternal,  or  of  his 
countless  years  as  giving  Him  no  fellowship  be- 
yond Himself.  There  is  room  for  all  that  we 
wish  to  imagine,  and  imagination  has  neither 
neglected  nor  overstepped  its  opportunity.  What 
we  read  of  angels  enhances  the  dignity  of  man  as 
of  one  esteemed  worthy  of  such  ministries  as  are 
ascribed  to  the  celestial  beings,  whose  appear- 
ance is  in  dazzling  light  and  gleaming  robes, 
when  some  rare  event  calls  for  their  presence. 
Yet  their  service  is  with  discrimination. 

Ruskin's  remarks  will  be  in  place  here  :  "  You 
will  always  find  that,  in  proportion  to  the  earnest- 
ness of  our  own  faith,  its  tendency  to  accept  a 
spiritual  personality  increases  ;  and  that  the  most 
vital  and  beautiful  Christian  temper  rests  joyfully 
in  its  conviction  of  the  multitudinous  ministry  of 
living  angels,  infinitely  varied  in  rank  and  power." 
Instances  of  their  ministry,  as  we  all  know,  are 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE    57 

frequent  in  our  sacred  records,  and  in  the  annals 
of  other  peoples.  They  had  their  part  in  the  one 
grand  purpose  which  moves  in  our  Scriptures. 
But  it  is  a  significant  fact,  which  carries  evidence 
of  the  sincerity  of  the  writers  of  the  Gospels,  and 
of  the  restraint  under  which  they  held  them- 
selves, that  when  Christ  came  angels  were  at  the 
manger,  but  that  at  the  end  they  were  not  at  the 
Cross.  Legions  might  have  been  summoned,  but 
not  one  brightened  the  darkness  by  the  shining  of 
his  wings. 

Few  truths  could  be  of  more  service  in  bring- 
ing man  to  the  right  apprehension  of  himself, 
and  of  his  place  in  the  universe,  in  quickening 
a  high  self-respect  and  a  regard  for  his  splendid 
possibilities  in  character  and  achievement,  than 
that  which  at  once  declares  and  continually 
asserts  his  relation  to  the  Eternal.  We  have 
grown  so  accustomed  to  low  views  of  humanity 
that  our  reckoning  is  at  fault.  We  are  like  ships 
that  have  lost  their  place  and  can  get  no  observa- 
tion by  reason  of  thick  clouds  and  broken  instru- 
ments. Dead  reckoning  is  a  poor  reliance.  Who 
is  responsible  for  the  inaccurate,  dishonoring 
opinions  which  prevail  concerning  man  it  were 
of  no  use  to  inquire,  unless  possibly  we  should  be 
led  to  see  the  truth  with  our  own  eyes  and  judge 
with  our  own  mind  and  heart.     But  it    is    only 


58    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

just  to  say  that  the  Bible  is  not  to  be  charged 
with  this  misleading,  for  it  labors  to  persuade 
men  of  their  greatness,  and  to  induce  them  to 
make  this  actual,  to  regain  their  birthright,  to  lay 
claim  to  all  which  is  designed  for  them.  The 
writers  depict  men  as  they  find  them,  and  the  por- 
trayal is  sad ;  but  they  do  not  stop  on  this. 
Their  design  is  not  to  make  us  aware  of  our 
misery,  but  to  bring  us  out  of  it.  They  set  forth 
the  beginning  and  the  true  end.  They  deal  with 
the  present,  but  they  pronounce  this  neither  the 
beginning  nor  the  close.  They  declare  it  a 
departure,  and  reach  out  a  hand  to  guide  men  in 
the  right  way.  They  cover  reproaches  with 
promises.  As  at  the  first,  the  evening  and  the 
morning  make  the  day,  and  the  morning  lasts. 
The  Bible  has  suffered  at  the  hands  of  those  whom 
it  has  sought  to  help,  when  they  have  refused  to 
read  its  teachings  through  to  the  closing 
sentences,  with  an  intelligent  thoroughness,  but 
have  made  selections,  according  to  their  inclina- 
tion and  disposition,  and  have  missed  its  spirit, 
and  the  steady  trend  of  its  instruction,  the 
glorious  uplift  of  its  truths.  "  O  Israel,  thou 
hast  destroyed  thyself;  but  in  me  is  thine 
help.  .  .  .  O  Israel,  return  unto  the  Lord 
thy  God;  for  thou  hast  fallen  by  thine  iniquity  ;  " 
thus  the    Hebrew  prophet  summoned  his  people 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE    59 

to  their  place.  Repent,  Return,  are  characteristic 
words.  "  Remember  from  whence  thou  art  fallen, 
and  repent,  and  do  the  first  works,"  is  one  of  the 
latest  calls  of  the  New  Testament,  with  the  Good 
News  of  God.  The  teaching  is  not  that  man's 
ascent,  while  real,  is  too  slow,  and  needs  to  be 
aided  and  hastened ;  but  that  there  should  be  a 
turning,  a  returning,  and  then  an  advance.  The 
word  of  Christ  to  the  Jewish  ruler  is  as  full  of  hope 
and  promise  as  of  counsel  —  "  Except  a  man  be 
born  anew,  he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 
The  man  saw  the  meaning  of  the  words,  as  his 
answer  shows.  But  the  call  and  promise  were 
renewed  and  with  added  force. 

It  is  in  the  light  of  these  teachings,  at  once 
profound  and  sublime,  holding  the  past  and  the 
present  in  their  view,  that  President  James 
Walker's  words  find  their  significance :  "  The 
Gospel  is  a  Divine  dispensation  of  encourage- 
ment." If  any  one  bases  his  low  estimate  of 
man  and  his  estate  upon  the  Bible,  it  is  because 
he  has  not  read  it.  No  book  which  deserves 
reading  can  be  read  by  disconnected  portions. 
Sometimes  in  our  impatience  with  the  deliberate 
movement  of  a  book  we  take  the  last  pages  before 
their  time,  to  see  how  things  "  come  out."  I 
think  if  men  had  taken  this  method  with  the 
Bible  they  would  have  been  less  offended  by  the 


60    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

events  through  which  the  history  moves  steadily 
toward  its  consummation.  I  do  not  say  that  the 
last  should  be  read  first,  but  that  it  should  be  read. 
Seeing  we  have  the  end,  it  may  be  well  sometimes 
to  begin  there.  The  final  view  of  man  is  good 
enough  to  satisfy  any  one.  But  the  line  is  un- 
broken from  the  beginning.  One  ray  of  light 
connects  the  earth  and  the  sun,  and  shows  us 
both. 

Nor  is  the  depressed  and  depressing  view  of 
man  to  be  so  much  charged  upon  the  theologians 
as  some  have  hastily  said.  They  have  indeed 
many  times  drawn  in  dismal  colors  his  condition 
and  his  destiny.  They  have  at  times  aroused 
more  fear  than  hope,  which  was  not  Script- 
ural. But  they  have  not  failed  to  remind  men 
from  what  a  height  they  have  fallen,  nor  to  point 
out  the  way  of  recovery.  They  have  had  a  high 
idea  of  the  value  of  a  man,  although  their  views 
conflicted  with  their  opinions  on  other  subjects. 
If  they  have  limited  expectation  under  the  stress 
of  their  philosophy,  they  have  still  declared  the 
origin  of  the  race  and  drawn  in  weary  lines  its 
departure.  It  may  be,  and  it  may  not  be,  strange 
that  readers  have  missed  the  better  part  of  their 
teaching  through  the  offence  of  the  other  portions. 
This  has  not  been  fair,  but  the  blame  for  the  im- 
pression they  have  left  lies  not  altogether  at  the 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE    61 

door  of  the  old  divines.  I  am  not  called  to  defend 
them.  They  belong  in  their  time.  They  had 
their  work  and  did  it,  and  exceeded  it.  They  had 
the  approval  of  strong  men.  They  made  strong 
men,  who  thought  and  dared  and  achieved.  The 
old  systems  lacked  gentleness,  but  they  abounded 
in  vigor.  If  they  were  not  encouraging,  they 
were  robust.  We  see  defects  in  their  philosophy. 
Let  us  not  overlook  the  witness  which  was  in 
them,  or  their  conserving  nature,  or  the  special 
place  which  was  assigned  to  each  in  the  proces- 
sion of  theologies.  What  has  been  said  of  one  of 
the  greatest  of  the  old  masters  might  be  said  of 
others :  that  in  their  intense  desire  to  exalt  God, 
and  to  have  Him  seen  in  his  sovereignty,  man 
was  made  to  appear  small.  He  was  nothing,  that 
God  might  be  everything.  It  is  against  that  con- 
clusion I  have  been  contending.  If  one  makes 
comparison  of  man  with  his  Maker,  man  must  of 
necessity  be  small  and  of  slight  account.  We  are 
not  called  to  such  a  contrast.  While,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  greater  God  is,  the  greater  is  he 
who  is  made  in  his  likeness  ;  and  the  greater  man 
is,  the  greater  is  God  who  is  his  Maker,  and 
whose  image  he  bears.  Father  and  child  stand 
in  common  grandeur,  even  while  the  grandeur  of 
the  Father  is  infinite.  Indeed,  a  part  of  the 
greatness  of  a  man,  a  sign  of  his  worth,  appears  in 


62    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 
the  unbounded   reverence  wherewith   he  stands. 


kneels,  before  his  Creator. 

An  attempt  has  been  made  by  a  great  preacher 
to  show  the  "  dignity  of  human  nature  from  its 
ruins/'  He  finds  in  pieces  of  paved  road  and  an- 
tique milestones,  in  broken  walls  and  fallen 
columns,  witness  to  the  greatness  of  perished 
cities  and  empires.  So  he  discovers  "the  true 
majesty  of  human  nature  itself,  in  the  tragic 
grandeur  of  its  disorders."  In  the  worst  passions, 
in  hopes  and  fears,  in  false  religions  and  gropings 
for  light,  in  spiritual  intelligence  astray  from 
truth,  in  the  blind,  uncertain  thought  of  God,  he 
discerns  the  marks  of  a  higher  estate.  This  is 
ingenious  and  interesting,  and  has  its  value. 
But  we  reach  the  same  end  by  a  shorter  path  as 
we  mark  the  dignity  of  human  nature  as  shown 
by  its  origin.  Whatever  has  come  in  since,  the 
start  was  noble.  It  could  not  have  been  better. 
In  the  despoiled  temple  we  imagine  the  Parthenon 
in  its  integrity.  If  we  had  the  plans  of  the 
architect,  from  which  it  was  constructed,  and 
knew  his  design,  we  might  reach  even  a  higher 
estimate  of  its  majesty.  This  advantage  we  have 
when  we  study  man.  The  order  of  events  is  the 
true  order  of  history.  In  the  beginning,  God; 
then  man,  whose  life  is  the  divine  breath,  and  the 
end  toward  which  creation  slowly  moved.     The 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    63 

summit  was  reached.  The  world  had  come  to  its 
meaning.  In  man  the  Creator  was  in  affectionate 
and  intelligent  connection  with  the  world.  It 
was  not  to  be  ruled  by  power,  but  governed  by 
love.  The  response  of  the  world  to  its  Maker  is 
from  the  heart  of  man.  We  do  well  to  appreci- 
ate the  divine  intent.  Speaking  after  our  own 
manner,  if  God  was  to  keep  the  world  He  must 
keep  man.  He  was  the  one  point  at  which  God, 
who  is  spirit,  could  enter  the  world's  life.  If  He 
lost  man  He  lost  the  earth.  It  is  not  self-praise 
if,  standing  here,  we  exclaim,  How  magnificent  is 
Man  !  How  fine  his  nature,  the  thought,  the 
will,  the  love,  the  conscience,  the  choice,  the 
divine  life !  What  may  we  not  look  for  as  the 
powers  of  man  come  into  use,  grow  by  exercise, 
prove  themselves  in  conduct,  construct  character, 
reveal  the  Eternal  in  whose  likeness  they  have 
their  being ! 

There  is  one  life  ;  of  that  life  is  the  life  of  a 
man.  It  is  to  be  kept  true  to  itself ;  to  be  in  him 
what  it  was  before  he  knew  it.  The  higher 
nature  is  to  rule  the  life.  I  give  a  rough  illus- 
tration. I  fill  my  cup  from  the  brook  by  the 
way.  The  water  is  not  changed  in  the  transfer. 
The  brook  is  in  the  cup.  The  breath  of  the 
Creator  is  not  changed  by  entering  the  nostrils  of 
the  man,  and  is  not  to  be  changed  beyond  them. 


64    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

If  we  consider  who  and  what  man  was  at  the 
first,  it  is  clear  that  his  business  in  the  world,  up 
to  the  limit  of  his  powers,  was  to  be  like  his 
Maker;  to  think,  choose,  live  like  Him.  By 
being  like  God  he  was  to  preserve  himself  and 
justify  his  appointment  as  the  crown  of  creation 
and  the  head  of  the  world.  Surely  there  is 
something  superb  here.  With  all  his  ambition 
and  pride  and  glory,  no  man  has  ever  esteemed 
himself  highly  enough.  Many  have  made  wrong 
estimates,  and  have  been  conceited  and  foolish. 
But  no  one  has  put  too  great  value  upon  his 
birthright  in  having  for  his  daily  life  the  breath 
of  the  Eternal.  Pride  would  exalt  itself,  if  it 
would  become  rational  and  ascend  into  Religion. 
If  there  is  honest  comfort  in  self-respect,  here  is 
its  boundless  opportunity.  Godly,  Godlike,  is 
not  a  word  merely,  a  well-sounding  adjective, 
but  the  honest  expression  of  all  that  is  becoming 
in  that  divine  life  which  is  man.  It  would  be 
truth  in  the  inward  parts  corresponding  to  the 
eternal  truth.  It  would  not  be  imitation,  but 
the  natural  expression  of  being.  Nothing  could 
be  more  explicit  than  the  requirement  of  Christ, 
which  we  may  well  accept  as  the  privilege  of  the 
beginning,  "Ye  therefore  shall  be  perfect,  as 
your  heavenly  Father  is  perfect."  St.  Peter 
quoted  from   Leviticus,   "  Be  ye  holy,  for  I   am 


COURSE   OF  MAN   IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    65 

holy."  He  added  that  "  divine  power  hath  granted 
unto  us  all  things  that  pertain  unto  life  and  god- 
liness, through  the  knowledge  of  Him  that  called 
us  by  his  own  glory  and  virtue." 

The  time  has  come  for  another  new  word.  We 
are  advancing  in  philology.  There  is  a  term 
which  is  essential  to  moral  character,  that  is,  to 
manhood.  No  one  would  hesitate  to  say  that 
the  man  ought  to  preserve  his  life  in  its  purity 
and  divinity ;  ought  to  keep  the  divine  breath 
which  he  has  received  like  the  breath  of  which  it 
was  an  inseparable  part.  He  cannot  improve  it ; 
let  him  preserve  it.  Even  without  a  command- 
ment, the  propriety  of  this  is  evident.  There 
is  obligation,  responsibility;  the  words  grow  as 
we  think.  As  denning  the  man's  relation  to 
himself  and  to  his  Maker  "ought"  is  a  serious 
word.  It  carries  a  theology  in  its  letters.  It  is 
a  covenant  and  a  sacrament.  In  its  principles  it 
is  as  firm  as  gravitation,  or  anything  which  in 
our  poverty  we  call  "  law."  It  is  character,  it  is 
life.  It  holds  honor  and  well-being.  It  is  re- 
ligion. It  connects  man  with  the  universe  and 
the  Creator.  When  we  call  conscience  "  the  vice- 
regent  of  God "  we  write  "  ought "  in  large  let- 
ters. We  have  "  the  inflashing "  upon  the  con- 
science of  that  which  we  must  do,  and  we  assent 
to  this,  and  meet  without  complaint   the  result 


66    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

of  our  misdoing.  This  is  our  original  nature. 
What  is  the  ground  of  this  authority  over  us  ? 
It  has  been  said  to  be  in  our  creation.  We 
do  not  feel  this,  for  our  making  was  not  of 
our  desire.  Nor  do  we  feel  that  strength 
gives  the  right  to  rule,  nor  does  experience  of 
results  content  us.  We  get  farther  back  into 
the  nature  of  the  Creator.  He  is  perfect.  To 
be  like  Him  is  to  be  perfect.  We  know  that  the 
best  should  be  enthroned,  and  that  our  allegiance 
should  be  given  to  it.  This  reason  declares,  and 
conscience,  and  nature.  Here  we  have  the  best 
in  stability  and  strength.  Sa}^  "God  is  love,"  and 
no  more  is  to  be  desired.  To  require  the  man  to 
be  like  his  Maker  is  to  ask  him  to  be  his  best, 
the  best  man  he  can  be.  "  Our  chief  want  in  life 
is  somebody  who  shall  make  us  do  what  we  can," 
the  philosopher  said.  Duty  is  that  friend  ;  unob- 
trusive to  the  willing,  but  unswerving  as  the 
poles. 

There  is  often  a  comfort  in  this  fact.  When 
we  are  bewildered  among  questions  of  conduct, 
we  come  back  to  this  with  assurance.  Here  the 
ground  is  solid.  It  is  a  strong  passage  in  the  life 
of  the  soldierly  English  preacher,  Frederick  Rob- 
ertson, when  there  came  to  him  accumulated 
trouble  —  the  ruin  of  a  friendship,  the  breaking 
of  his   health,  deep   darkness    which   buried   the 


COUBSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    67 

light  in  his  soul  —  and  his  early  faiths  were  shat- 
tered ;  one  truth  remained  and  to  that  lie  clung, 
and  with  it  fought  his  way  to  safety.  It  was  this, 
"  It  must  be  right  to  do  right."  Good !  But 
what  is  it  to  do  right?  What  is  right?  "  Be 
true,"  he  said,  "be  true."  True  to  what?  The 
eternal  answer  is  in  the  beginning,  is  here,  is 
everywhere,  is  forever.  Be  yourself ;  and  yourself 
is  of  God's  self.  Be  like  Him.  Think,  desire, 
will,  with  Him.  "  Thy  will  be  done."  Religion 
needs  this  vigor  of  right  conduct ;  to  be  robust 
in  virtue.  The  point  is  well  made,  that  religion 
is  not  morality  touched  by  emotion,  but  emotion 
touched  by  morality.  If  the  life  were  obedience, 
it  would  be  in  liberty,  for  there  is  no  other  obe- 
dience. It  would  be  glad,  for  it  is  the  thought  of 
the  eternal  gladness,  and  as  natural  as  the  fra- 
grance of  flowers,  the  song  of  birds.  I  do  not 
know  that  this  had  any  name  at  first.  .  In  the  time 
of  Moses,  when  conduct  had  taken  on  more  form 
it  was  called  Love,  and  no  better  name  was  found 
when  Christ  defined  it.  He  connected  this  with 
life  when  He  bade  his  disciples,  "  If  ye  love  me 
keep  my  commandments."  It  was  in  all  its  course 
delight,  blessedness  responding  to  blessedness,  in 
a  rivalry  of  pleasing.  This  was  at  the  first.  It 
seems  to  have  continued.  It  is  one  of  the  uni- 
versal traditions,  that  the  first  dwellers  upon  the 


68    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

earth  knew  an  "  Edenic  happiness,"  which  means 
truth,  lightness,  obedience.  "  This  belief  in  an 
age  of  happiness  and  of  innocence  in  the  infancy 
of  mankind  may  be  found  among  all  peoples  of 
the  Aryan  and  Japhetic  race  ;  "  and  "  this  is  one 
of  the  points  where  their  traditions  find  them- 
selves most  evidently  on  common  ground  with  the 
Semitic  stories  which  we  find  in  Genesis."  The 
Egyptians  had  their  golden  age  to  which  they 
continually  looked  back.  It  was  the  time  of  Ra, 
"  who  inaugurated  the  existence  of  the  world  and 
of  human  life,"  and  who  ruled  the  earth.  To 
assert  the  superiority  of  anything  above  all  that 
could  be  imagined,  it  was  sufficient  to  say  that 
"  its  like  had  never  been  seen  since  the  days  of  the 
god  Ra."  We  move  on  ;  but  I  cannot  attempt  to 
describe  the  various  views  of  the  students  of  man 
and  his  history.  There  is  no  need  of  doing  it 
here,  nor  does  it  concern  my  design. 

Man  is  presented  by  one  school  as  "  the  crown 
and  glory  of  the  universe  and  the  chief  object  of 
divine  care,  yet  still  the  lame  and  halting  creat- 
ure, loaded  with  a  brute-inheritance  of  original 
sin,  whose  ultimate  salvation  is  slowly  to  be 
achieved  through  ages  of  moral  discipline."  But 
sin  and  salvation  are  here  diverted  from  the  usual 
and  natural  meaning  of  the  terms ;  yet  even  thus 
there  is   "  a  struggle  between  his  lower  and  his 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    69 

higher  impulses,  in  which  the  higher  must  finally 
conquer ; "  and  there  is  claimed  to  be  in  this  "  the 
strongest  imaginable  incentive  to  right  living." 
Or,  again,  we  are  told  that  "  man  rises  out  of  the 
animal  stage  and  becomes  a  man,"  and  thus 
comes  under  the  law  of  God,  "  the  law  of  right 
and  wrong." 

It  is  of  importance  to  mark  that  the  idea  of  the 
right,  of  duty,  of  the  ought,  holds  its  place  in 
this  method  of  regarding  life.  The  persistence  of 
that  truth  is  to  be  always  in  mind.  What  I  have 
to  insist  upon  is  this,  as  a  part  of  the  larger 
truth,  that  in  some  way,  at  some  time,  "  man  be- 
came a  living  soul,"  a  soul  like  the  divine  life,  and 
that  in  the  course  of  time  there  was  one  walking 
the  earth  who  had  the  faculty  we  name  "  Con- 
science," which  binds  a  man  to  his  Maker  in  a 
common  nature,  with  a  community  of  purpose 
and  conduct.  There  was  a  person  who  ought. 
Infinite  and  finite  are  words  easity  spoken ;  but 
let  us  not  fail  to  notice  that,  with  all  the  distance 
between  them,  they  are  in  the  same  line. 

We  are  brought  now  to  the  real  and  vital  ques- 
tion :  what,  under  the  conditions  of  his  life,  this 
person  would  do.  In  some  way  man  came  to  be 
man.  Let  all  the  time  which  is  thought  neces- 
sary be  taken  for  this.  It  is  certainly  not  unrea- 
sonable, but  to  be  expected,  that  this  coming  of 


70    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

age  should  be  attended  and  followed  by  a  time  of 
true  manhood,  upright,  honest,  godly;  and  that 
unbroken  happiness  should  prevail.  What  fol- 
lowed does  not  make  this  irrational.  From  the 
time  when  man  found  himself  he  may  well  have 
lived  in  gladness  until  the  time  when  he  lost  him- 
self. That  he  pushed  down,  or  pushed  up,  into 
another  estate  is  clear.  But  he  may  have  paused 
on  the  way  from  an  innocent  animal  to  whatever 
came  afterward,  and  paused  long  enough  to  enjoy 
the  rest.  From  this  he  may  have  made  a  new 
start. 

I  am  well  aware  that  this  view  is  not  in  accord 
with  the  independent  opinions  which  are  cherished 
by  many  students  ;  that  they  see  no  space  for 
paradise  with  a  true  and  righteous  manhood ; 
no  pause  in  life  into  which  it  could  have  been 
set.  The  emergence  from  a  lower  condition  is 
constant,  and  constantly  forward.  By  slow 
degrees  man  acquired  higher  qualities,  and 
ascended  to  his  true  estate.  There  is  no  reason 
why  this  doctrine  of  ascent  should  not  include 
the  happy  condition  which  the  traditional  litera- 
ture we  possess  clearly  describes.  The  weight 
cast  into  the  scales  of  opinion  by  a  few  pages 
of  unknown  origin  may  not  be  great,  but  it 
would  seem  to  be  heavy  enough  to  move  the 
beam   which    is    held    by   an   impartial,    uncom- 


COURSE   OF  MAN   IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    71 

mitted  hand.  If  we  are  left  to  inference,  cer- 
tainty is  impossible. 

Man  was  not  alone  in  the  world.  He  touched 
life  on  every  side.  It  is  not  easy  to  define  his 
relation  to  it  in  definite  terms.  The  alliance  of 
man  with  the  life  around  him  and  beneath  him 
is  delicate  and  mysterious.  It  is  real ;  but  the 
process  of  advance  from  it  is  not  perfectly  clear. 
Much  of  our  reasoning  seems  to  do  discredit  to 
the  less  endowed  creatures,  to  depreciate  the 
inferior  life  by  comparison.  It  is  true  that  what 
is  proper  in  them  may  be  wrong  in  a  man.  Yet 
they  live  out  their  best  nature.  If  man  had  done 
so,  the  story  of  the  world  had  been  very  different. 

In  this  connection  it  is  impressive,  instructive, 
to  observe  the  care  of  God  for  the  humbler 
creatures  whom  He  had  made,  and  their  recogni- 
tion of  his  goodness.  Classical  literature  knew 
nothing  of  this,  but  in  the  Hebrew  Bible  it  has  its 
place.  The  Hebrews  were  a  people  of  less  culture 
and  taste  than  the  Greeks,  but  they  had  a  fuller 
idea  of  God.  Their  account  of  the  attendant 
providence  is  far  in  advance  of  the  other  descrip- 
tions. Let  me  read  a  verse  or  two  from  an  unknown 
Hebrew  writer :  "  The  young  lions  seek  their 
meat  from  God.  These  all  wait  upon  Thee,  that 
Thou  mayest  give  them  their  meat  in  due  season. 
Thou  openest  thine  hand,  they  are  satisfied  with 


72    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

good."  It  would  be  difficult  to  match  this  thought 
in  the  poets  of  other  nations.  When  we  attempt 
to  adjust  our  relations  with  these  companions  in 
other  orders  of  life  they  are  at  a  disadvantage 
which  is  insuperable,  in  that  they  cannot  speak 
for  themselves.  If  only  our  poor  relations  could 
tell  their  thoughts  !  Who  looks  into  the  eyes  of 
a  fine  dog,  down  into  the  deeps  of  his  life,  and 
does  not  pity  him  that  he  cannot  speak  ?  Perhaps 
it  was  meant  that  our  fellowship  upon  that  side 
should  not  be  very  close,  lest  we  forget  whose 
children  we  are.  But  we  do  not  smile  at  the  poor 
Indian's  thought  of  the  continued  companionship 
he  shall  have  in  "  that  equal  sky." 

There  is  something  natural,  kindly,  helpful,  in 
the  friendship  of  man  with  his  less  favored 
kindred.  I  do  not  know  that  this  can  be  taught 
or  learned.  It  seems  to  be  nature's  assertion  of 
itself :  life  reaching  down  somewhat  as  it  reaches 
up.  Kinship  makes  itself  felt.  I  can  readily 
imagine  the  delight  of  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  in 
preaching  to  birds.  "  My  little  sisters,  the  birds," 
he  said,  and  he  bade  them  praise  their  Creator 
who  had  given  them  liberty  to  fly  about  every- 
where ;  and  had  given  them  the  air  to  live  in,  and 
had  fed  and  clothed  them,  and  preserved  them  in 
the  ark.  The  birds  listened,  bowing  their  heads 
and   spreading    their   wings,  and  by  their  songs 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    73 

showing  that  the  Father  had  given  them  joy 
exceeding  great. 

He  spoke  and  they  sang.  It  were  a  pity  to  ask 
if  they  knew  what  he  said,  and  answered  it.  They 
had  life  in  common  with  him.  They  were  "  the 
clothed  form  "  and  spirit  of  the  air.  Their  pres- 
ence found  him  and  his  presence  moved  them. 
They  enjoyed  this,  and  it  was  pleasant  to  him. 
Let  us  leave  something  for  imagination  and  fancy. 
The  preaching,  at  least,  was  real ;  whether  it  was 
heard  and  heeded  is  another  matter.  But  it 
is  pertinent  to  say,  that  if  the  hearing  and 
responding  are  essential  to  preaching,  much 
which  goes  by  that  name  has  a  questionable 
title  to  it. 

We  are  learning  to  be  more  than  kind  to  those 
who  are  more  than  faithful ;  yet  one  holds  his 
friend  "  better  than  his  dog  "  and  "  dearer  than 
his  horse."  I  believe  that  the  form  next  below 
us  has  not  yet  been  found.  If  he  were  I  do  not 
think  we  should  care  for  him.  He  would  be  "  so 
near  and  yet  so  far  "  that  we  should  prefer  our 
dog.  I  think  it  is  well  that  we  have  never 
made  his  acquaintance.  We  are  not  detained 
here.  Nearly  all  the  voices  bid  us  go  on,  — 
hope,  aspiration,  ambition,  religion,  —  and  life 
itself.     After  all,  uour  citizenship  is  in  heaven." 

The  difference  of   opinion  in  regard   to  other 


74    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

things  is  not  essential  to  the  purpose  we  have 
now  in  hand.  We  have  more  important  questions. 
Would  man,  when  he  had  been  made  a  man, 
consent  to  he  godly ;  to  live  as  God  did,  by  the 
will  of  God?  Of  ability  there  was  no  lack.  That 
was  essential  to  manhood.  The  divine  breath, 
which  was  the  soul's  life,  held  that  unchanged. 
It  was  a  matter  of  will,  of  choice,  in  the  use  of 
liberty.  Let  us  not  be  confused  by  differing 
views  of  his  history  up  to  this  place.  He  came  to 
this  estate.  Whatever  else  was  true,  there  he 
was,  at  the  point  where  he  was  to  make  up  his 
conduct.  He  was  free,  or  it  would  have  been 
trifling  to  describe  him  as  in  the  image  of  God. 
It  was  not  a  liberty  in  which  he  might  choose 
what  should  be  right.  That  was  utterly  out  of 
his  reach.  As  well  choose  the  time  when  the 
sun  should  rise,  or  the  tide  come  in.  His  divine 
nature,  before  it  was  his  own,  had  determined  the 
right.  Richard  Hooker's  words,  often  repeated, 
carry  no  marks  of  time  :  "  Law  has  her  seat  in 
the  bosom  of  God ;  her  voice  is  the  harmony  of 
the  world."  Mr.  Emerson  taught  that  the  weight 
of  the  universe  presses  down  upon  the  shoul- 
ders of  every  moral  being  to  hold  him  to  his 
place.  It  is  a  heavy  load,  but  there  is  no  escape 
from  it.  We  make  it  easy  by  keeping  at  our 
post  cheerfully,  and  standing  erect,   holding  the 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    75 

universe.  Atlas  can  bear  the  world  if  he  stands 
straight.  The  liberty  resided  in  the  power  to  say 
whether  he  would  do  that  which  he  ought,  or 
would  disown  it,  and  do  —  something  else. 
That  for  a  time  he  chose  to  do  the  right  is  proba- 
ble. How  far  this  continued  we  have  not  been 
told ;  we  have  not  a  tradition,  even.  Docu- 
mentary evidence  is  scant,  but  what  we  have  is 
easily  read.  Can  it  be  trusted  ?  The  ancient 
writing  has  been  so  well  confirmed,  as  far  as  we 
can  trace  elsewhere  the  occurrences  which  it  de- 
scribes, that  it  seems  irrational  to  leave  it  here. 
Up  to  this  point  the  results  of  later  studies  are  in 
remarkable  agreement  with  it,  as  we  have  seen. 
Why  should  the  tradition,  if  it  is  that,  suddenly 
fail  us  ?  We  have  the  two  records,  but  the  parts 
have  one  editor.  These  writings  are  certainly 
convenient  in  their  simple  narrative  and  cannot 
be  lightly  esteemed.  In  referring  to  the  early 
chapters  of  the  Bible,  I  made  use  of  them  as  a 
statement  of  events  with  which  science  has  to 
do.  I  now  use  them  as  a  statement  of  events 
with  which  history  has  to  do.  They  are  useful 
for  this  purpose,  and  have  at  least  the  authority 
which  belongs  to  early  literature,  confirmed  so  far 
as  it  may  be  from  other  sources.  The  literary,  or 
scientific,  presumption  is  that  having  been  true 
up  to  this   point  they  continue   to   be  true. 


76    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

The  transition  from  man  obedient  and  happy  to 
man  wrong  and  ashamed  is  very  abrupt  in  the 
Hebrew  story.  Longer  time  may  have  been  taken 
than  the  brief  narrative  suggests.  We  are  read- 
ing of  the  innocent  delight  of  the  man  and  woman 
in  their  safe  and  beautiful  life,  when,  without 
warning,  we  come  upon  this :  "  Now  the  ser- 
pent." The  writer  goes  on  to  tell  of  a  change ; 
of  the  time  when  man  chose  not  to  be  like  God, 
when  his  life  swerved  and  went  its  own  way.  He 
is  soon  discovered  in  this  estate,  at  variance  with 
the  divine  nature  which  has  been  given  him. 
Now  I  stand  beside  the  brook  and  look  into  the 
cup,  and  the  water  in  the  cup  is  not  like  the 
water  in  the  brook.  Of  this,  unhappily,  no  proof 
is  required.  The  daily  papers  keep  it  before  our 
eyes.  The  voluminous  histories  of  all  times  force 
it  upon  our  notice.  It  is  in  drama  and  poetry ; 
in  law  and  legislation.  We  see  it  wherever  we 
turn,  and  feel  it  within  us,  and  trace  it  as  far  as 
history  runs.  No  man  who  knows  God  can  think 
He  made  the  world  of  men  to  be  what  it  is.  The 
gift  of  liberty,  essential  to  manhood,  has  been 
found  a  perilous  endowment.  Account  for  it  as 
we  may,  here  are  the  facts:  explanations  are  of 
less  consequence. 

Who  does  not  observe  the  change  from  the 
first  days  —  a  change  in  human  thought  since  the 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE    77 

life  of  the  Eternal  became ,  the  life  of  man  ? 
Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  many  regard  the  evil 
of  history  and  experience  as  belonging  in  the 
lower  life  from  which  man  has  imperfectly 
escaped ;  —  "  Very  imperfectly,"  an  observer  would 
remark,  —  that  he  is  thought  to  have  risen  greatly 
and  to  be  slowly  ascending.  Give  him  time,  and 
of  this  there  is  enough,  —  what  need  to  be  parsi- 
monious when  we  have  centuries  at  our  command, 
—  give  him  the  ages,  and  he  will  be  a  credit  to 
himself  and  them.  This  is  an  explanation  seri- 
ously made,  and  it  is  to  be  seriously  regarded.  In 
this  view  the  divine  life  was  of  such  a  nature,  and 
was  given  by  such  degrees,  that  it  was  not  able 
quickly  to  overrule  the  lower  life  to  which  it  was 
joined.  This  would  reduce  obligation  to  an 
inconsiderable  force.  The  result,  instead  of 
being  a  defect,  would  be  an  approach  toward 
an  increasing  victory,  and  from  this  much 
might  be  hoped.  I  have  no  occasion  to  dis- 
cuss this,  for  I  am  concerned  with  man  after 
he  has  reached  the  stage  of  moral  life,  or  obli- 
gation. I  see  the  advance  of  man  and  his  im- 
provement in  many  ways,  material,  intellectual, 
social,  and  perhaps  moral.  But  I  cannot  make 
the  long  course  of  the  world,  as  it  is  working  by 
the  natural  forces  within  it,  a  movement  toward 
the    Creator,    and   the    recognition    of    itself    as 


78    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

his  world.  I  do  not  see  that  man  untaught  is 
finding  himself  as  the  child  of  God,  whose  spirit 
is  divine,  and  wills  to  be  divine ;  who  is  governed, 
sustained,  comforted,  by  "  the  power  of  an  endless 
life."  If  man  of  his  own  nature  is  on  his  way  to 
a  divine  life,  the  road  is  terribly  long.  And,  oh, 
the  pain  and  sorrow  and  cruelty  and  dying  all  the 
way,  from  a  time  no  one  has  discovered !  It 
seems  like  Napoleon's  retreat  from  Russia,  infi- 
nitely extended. 

Are  God  and  Nature  then  at  strife, 
That  Nature  lends  such  evil  dreams? 
So  careful  of  the  type  she  seems, 

So  careless  of  the  single  life. 

It  is  very  well  to  say  that  in  some  other  world 
man  will  attain  to  himself.  That  is  poor  comfort. 
Is  this  good  world  to  go  for  nothing?  Are  count- 
less generations  to  suffer,  that  thousands  of  years 
hence  there  may  be  one  wherein  a  man  knows  who 
he  is,  and  begins  to  live  as  a  man  ought  to  live? 
I  don't  believe  it.  It  seems  to  me  not  like  God, 
and  not  like  man.  Improvement,  progress,  devel- 
opment, —  I  grant  them  all.  But  this  is  man 
himself ;  whose  interests  are  as  real  now  as  they 
ever  will  be  ;  for  whom  to-day  should  have  its 
full  value  as  truly  as  any  coming  day ;  for  whom 
the  right  is  as  right  as  it  will  be  aeons  hence  ;  to 
whom  ought  has  its  full  significance,  even  to  the 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    79 

possibility,  and,  alas  !  the  reality,  of  the  wrong. 
But  let  me  interpose  the  thought,  and  ask  special 
attention  to  it,  that  even  if  the  steady  improve- 
ment of  man  is  provided  for,  and  will  go  on  unto 
perfection,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  Creator 
and  Father  from  assisting,  hastening,  securing,  the 
movement  in  any  way  which  He  chooses.  He 
may  do  this  by  a  new  and  special  bestowment  of 
spiritual  life ;  or  by  great  men,  prophets,  and  the 
like  ;  or  in  the  Son  of  Man.  Indeed,  seeing  how 
much  is  involved,  both  for  Himself  and  for  the 
world,  the  natural  advance  is  so  deliberate  as  to 
be  almost  a  promise  of  added  help. 

The  Hebrew  description  is  in  accord  with  all 
that  we  know  of  the  conditions,  and  in  agreement 
with  history  and  constant  observation,  as  it  has 
reached  us  in  a  few  simple  sentences  out  of  the 
shadowy  past  in  which  some  facts  stand  up  like 
mountain  peaks.  There  came  a  time,  whatever 
preceded  it,  when  man  was  to  choose  whether  he 
would  live  according  to  the  higher  nature  which 
was  his ;  that  is,  according  to  the  will  of  the 
Creator  whose  life  was  his  ;  or  live  in  another 
way,  after  other  desires.  The  thought  came  to 
him,  was  given  to  him, — to  the  woman  who  had 
joined  him,  and  then  to  the  man,  —  of  a  new 
knowledge,  wherein  they  should  be  as  God.  They 
were  to  be  like  God  by  becoming  unlike  Him.     It 


80    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

is  all  foolish,  of  course.  Sin  is  always  foolish. 
But  the  new  desire  prevailed.  This  has  been 
termed  "  The  Fall."  I  do  not  remember  that  the 
Bible  uses  that  word  in  describing  the  event. 
Some  one  called  it  "  a  fall  up."  But  "  a  fall  up  " 
is  a  fall  down.  The  idea  that  this  was  merely  a 
step  in  ethical  growth  is  queer,  or  seems  so. 

It  is  hard  to  be  rid  of  our  questioning,  which 
returns  upon  us :  When  did  man  come  to  the 
place  where  he  began  to  live  ?  Or  has  he  reached 
it  yet?  There  is  no  ethical  life  till  man  can 
choose  for  himself  what  he  will  do.  Has  he  not 
yet  reached  that  point?  What  becomes  of 
Abraham  if  we  are  still  fiercely  and  with  slender 
hopes  struggling  with  our  brute  inheritance,  and  if 
this  explains  our  wars  and  fightings  and  envyings 
and  confusions  !  No.  The  old  account  is  the  best 
we  have,  short  as  it  is.  Let  the  lower  nature  of 
man  be  granted.  Already  he  knows  his  higher 
nature,  and  he  knew  it  in  the  garden  we  call 
Eden.  The  story  is  very  brief,  but  is  like  the 
annals  of  which  it  is  a  part.  Regarded  as  history, 
parable,  allegory,  picture,  there  it  is,  and  it  is 
consistent  in  its  whole  extent.  It  is  a  simple 
world  which  is  presented,  and  simple  lives  are 
lived  upon  it.  The  narrative  of  the  second 
chapter  is  properly  connected  with  the  first. 
A  garden   describes  in  pleasant  form  the  abode 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE    81 

of  men,  and  keeping  it  was  their  occupation.     The 
life  around  them  was  fearless  and  friendly. 

About  them  frisking  play'd 
All  beasts  of  th'  earth,  since  wild. 

•Days  were  not  wearisome  in  their  healthful 
employment,  and  nights  were  the  repose  of  inno- 
cence.    The  joy  of  life  was  theirs,  and 

In  their  looks  divine 
The  image  of  their  glorious  Maker  shone. 

The  commandment  which  stated  their  duty  is 
in  the  language  of  the  garden :  "  Of  the  tree  of  the 
knowledge  of  good  and  evil,  thou  shalt  not  eat  of 
it."  The  meaning  and  design  were  plain  to  those 
to  whom  the  words  were  spoken.  We  have  in  the 
narrative  an  illustrated  account  of  things  as  they 
were.  There  is  a  philosophy  in  the  imagery 
which  has  contented  very  sensible  men.  These 
were  the  conditions,  so  far  as  they  have  been 
disclosed,  under  which  the  departure  began,  and 
the  departing  took  its  form  from  them.  It  is  well 
to  mark  the  simplicity  here  in  comparison  with  all 
other  accounts  of  this  part  of  human  experience : 
"  When  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was  good 
for  food,  and  that  it  was  a  delight  to  the  eyes, 
and  that  the  tree  was  to  be  desired  to  make  one 
wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof  and  did  eat; 
and  she  gave  also  unto  her  husband  with  her,  and 


82    COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

he  did  eat."  Thus  the  will  of  God  and  the  will 
of  man  were  opposed.  The  life  of  man  departed 
from  the  life  of  God  in  desire  and  deed,  in  motive 
and  direction.  These  words,  and  this  representa- 
tion, once  had  meaning,  and  they  have  meaning 
still.  They  bear  signs  of  the  primitive  times  in 
which  they  first  had  their  place.  The  truth  which 
the  simple  picture  was  designed  to  preserve  and 
to  transmit  has  not  been  outgrown  and  set  aside. 
I  have  no  occasion  now  to  read  these  compact 
sentences  as  the  theologian  must.  They  did  eat 
of  forbidden  fruit.  The  fact  is  all  which  is  here 
of  concern  to  us,  and  that  remains  whatever  con- 
struction is  given  to  the  words.  The  symbolism 
also  remains,  however  it  may  be  translated.  If 
we  do  not  like  the  terms  "  tree  "  and  "  fruit,"  we 
are  at  liberty  to  make  any  substitution  which 
scholarship  permits.  There  is  no  reason  why  we 
should  be  offended  or  bewildered.  The  narrative 
in  all  its  pictorial,  representative,  symbolic  charac- 
ter is  harmonious  throughout.  There  is  no  con- 
fusion in  the  rhetoric  or  its  images.  The  garden 
is  natural  in  the  story  of  creation.  The  garden 
readily  suggests  the  trees.  How  should  we  de- 
scribe this  in  a  poem  ?  We  should  not  put  the  man 
and  woman  in  a  palace,  or  on  a  ship,  or  make  the 
testing  question  one  of  money  or  office.  The 
garden  is  the   right   place    for   a   home    and   for 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE     83 

the  proving  of  life.  The  serpent  offends  us  most, 
but  he  is  often  in  a  garden,  and  he  is  in  his  place 
in  this  picture.  He  has  a  considerable  place  in 
the  religious  symbolism  of  the  ancients.  Some- 
times he  stands  for  that  which  is  helpful ;  but  in 
all  mythologies  he  personifies  "the  nocturnal, 
hostile  power,  the  evil  principle,  material  dark- 
ness, moral  wickedness."  The  question  of  the 
Indian  concerning  the  delay  of  his  destruction 
waits  for  an  answer.  It  is  evident  that  whatever 
the  serpent  stood  for  has  not  been  killed.  In  the 
Apocalypse  we  read  of  "  the  old  serpent  which  is 
the  devil  and  Satan. "  There  are  many  things  in 
the  history  of  the  world  which  are  like  the  things 
the  devil  would  do,  if  there  were  a  devil.  Per- 
haps there  is ;  or  whose  footprints  are  these  all 
over  the  world?  He  appears  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment with  the  same  characteristics  which  are 
found  here.  We  do  not  like  him.  We  do  not 
like  any  part  of  the  events  in  which  he  moves.  But 
the  whole  story  would  be  harmless  if  we  could 
undo  the  facts  it  expresses.  We  can  tear  it  from 
our  Bibles,  but  only  the  volume  would  be  changed, 
the  paper  and  binding.  We  cannot  undo  the  long 
history  which  takes  us  back  to  that  place,  or  to 
one  no  better,  unless  we  boldly  deny  that  man's 
true  life  be^an  in  the  ima^e  and  likeness  of  his 
Maker,  or  at  least  attained  to  it  and  then  began. 


84    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

I  do  not  claim  to  be  impartial.  The  habit  of  a 
lifetime  forbids  that.  But  may  I  say  again,  that 
reading  as  fairly  as  I  can,  reading  the  narrative 
as  it  was  meant  to  be  read,  I  have  seen  no  record 
of  this  departure  which  is  more  to  be  esteemed 
than  this,  for  its  reasonableness,  and  the  comfort 
and  courage  which  come  with  it?  The  accounts 
are  all  very  hard  reading.  Explain  as  we  may, 
they  are  very  hard  reading. 

The  narratives  which  have  their  place  in  our 
Bible  and  its  teaching,  as  we  have  seen,  present 
to  us  two  persons  who  have  come  to  the  estate 
of  man  and  woman,  who  are  well  grown  up, 
and  mature  enough  to  be  put  in  charge  of  the 
newly  made  earth,  to  have  dominion  over  every 
living  thing  that  moves  upon  the  earth,  or  in 
the  sea  and  air.  The  man  is  wise  enough  to 
be  trusted  to  give  names  to  all  which  lives 
about  him.  He  is  mature  enough,  well-endowed 
enough,  to  receive  the  commandment  of  God.  He 
stands  well  in  all  the  first  portion  of  his  history. 
There  is  a  royal  character  which  shows  his  origin. 
He  is  not  born  of  earth.  He  moves  like  a  god. 
There  comes  a  change  and  he  moves  unlike  a  god. 
What  God  wills  he  wills  not.  By  some  road  he 
comes  to  the  parting  of  the  ways,  and  he  departs 
from  the  way  of  God.  It  is  fearfully  sad.  A 
man  has  been  ridiculed  for  weeping  because  he 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    85 

sinned  in  Adam ;  yet  one  might  be  pardoned  a 
tear  as  the  fairness  of  Eden  fades  away  ;  fades 
into  the  common  light. 

But  why  did  they  —  the  man  and  woman  of 
the  world  —  why  did  they,  and  thus  readily, 
become  false  to  themselves  and  their  only  friend, 
their  Creator,  in  whose  hand  their  life  was,  whose 
life  was  their  life  ?  There  has  never  come  any 
one  to  tell  us.  They  could  do  it,  or  they  would 
not  have  done  it.  But  to  have  been  unable 
to  do  it  would  have  deprived  their  obedience 
of  its  worthiest  quality,  the  freeness  of  it. 
An  automatic  virtue  would  have  been  the  virtue 
of  trees  and  birds,  extended  a  little  way.  I 
believe  it  was  Huxley  who  said  he  should  be 
willing  to  be  wound  up  every  morning  like  a 
clock,  if  it  would  insure  his  going  right  all  day. 
I  should  not.  We  would  almost  prefer  to  do 
wrong  now  and  then  rather  than  never  do  right. 
Liberty  was  a  genuine  gift  and  held  the  hazard. 
Manhood  required  liberty.  In  its  freedom  the  will 
finds  what  has  well  been  termed  "  its  inalienable 
prerogative.''  The  assertion  of  liberty  and  the 
appeal  to  it  pervade  our  Scriptures.  Indeed,  the 
Bible  would  scarcely  be  necessary  without  it. 
"  Come  unto  me,"  "  Ye  will  not  come  unto  me," 
are  repeated  in  a  thousand  forms.  To  explain 
this  use  of  the  liberty  by  the  stress  of  temptation 


86    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST   LITERATURE 

is  but  to  throw  the  unresolved  mystery  farther 
back.  The  fall  of  angels  is  even  harder  to  account 
for  than  the  fall  of  man.  Moral  evil  was  created 
out  of  nothing.  Goodness  could  not  evolve  it,  for 
there  was  no  germ  to  be  developed.  Man  made  it 
for  himself,  as  it  had  been  made  before.  It  was 
the  act  of  the  will  which  needs  no  material.  The 
modern  explanation  is  reasonable,  and  it  suits 
itself  to  the  picture  of  the  elder  time :  that  man 
had  two  natures,  that  which  allied  him  with  the 
earth  and  the  life  upon  it,  and  that  wherein  he 
was  the  child  of  God.  The  lower  nature  warred 
against  the  higher,  and  prevailed.  It  was  not 
properly  his  animal  nature,  as  some  imply;  for 
the  thought  was  of  his  mind,  and  concerned  a 
new  knowledge,  which  was  attractive.  Plato 
accounted  for  it  in  this  way  :  "  The  divine  portion 
within  them  became  extinct  through  admixture  of 
the  mortal  nature.  Then  they  began  to  exhibit 
unbecoming  conduct."  The  Hebrew  account  is 
more  graphic.  It  is  a  translation,  and  we  can 
make  our  own.  The  desire  for  the  fruit  and  that 
which  belonged  with  it,  knowledge  and  power, 
overcame  the  commandment,  and  the  authority  of 
conscience.  Strange?  There  are  things  we  do 
not  understand;  but  the  man  is  peculiar  who 
does  not  know  a  conflict  like  that.  St.  Paul 
knew  it.     Has  the  battle  always  gone  in  the  same 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    87 

way  ?  Which  way  ?  Experience  gives  most  men 
reason  to  believe  that  they  are  born  of  some  one 
like  Adam. 

Let  us  read  the  story  a  little  farther.     There  is 
some  relief  in  the  thought  that  in  the  instance 
before  us  the  suggestion  of  wrong  came  from  with- 
out.    They  were  guileless,  those  children  of  the 
garden,  untaught,  unlearned  in  evil,  unsuspicious, 
and  they  had  never  heard  a  lie.     They  did  not 
know  that  one  could  lie,  and  seek  to  thwart  the 
will   of   the   eternal   goodness.      In  the   childish 
habit  of  believing,  they  believed.     It  is  a  sign  of 
immaturity,  but  things  well-nigh  as  strange  have 
happened  since.     We  have  been  too  often  sur- 
prised to  be   utterly  and  permanently  staggered 
by  the  first  evil  choice.     Experience  might  now 
fairly  be  expected  to  stand  in  the  place  of  inno- 
cence for  the   routing  of  temptation.     Does  it? 
The  result  was  in  keeping  with  the  deed  and  its 
conditions.    Shame  and  fear,  and  the  dread  of  the 
one  friendly  presence,  came  at  once.     The  garden 
had  lost  its  delight.     There  is  not  much  left  to 
part  with  when  one  has  lost  himself.     They  had 
gone    through   the    gate    into   the   strange    outer 
world.     Driven  out,  the  record  says.     But  they 
were  out.     "  The  mind  is  its  own  place."     More 
than  a  flaming  sword  turning  every  way  kept  the 
way  of  the   tree  of  life.     Yet  it  is  of  profound 


88    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

interest  to  find  that  they  had  not  lost  their  confi- 
dence in  the  One  they  had  wronged.  Out  of  the 
garden,  when  the  mother  had  in  her  arms  the 
first-born  of  woman,  the  mother-heart  in  joy  held 
up  the  child,  while  she  let  her  thought  ascend  to 
God,  and  her  voice  raise  the  song  of  thanksgiving, 
the  oldest  psalm  preserved  to  us,  "  I  have  gotten 
a  man  from  the  Lord."  Are  not  these  the  first 
rude  notes  of  the  hymn  sung  afterward  in  Judah : 
"  My  soul  doth  magnify  the  Lord,  and  my  spirit 
hath  rejoiced  in  God  my  Saviour.  For  he  hath 
looked  upon  the  low  estate  of  his  handmaiden  "  ? 
There  is  something  grand  in  the  first  Magnificat. 
It  is  a  prelude  to  the  second.  It  is  beautiful  to 
mark  the  penitence  and  faith  and  joy  of  the  first 
mother  as  these  are  preserved  in  a  few  lines.  Her 
heart  is  still  with  God,  and  his  goodness  she 
confesses.  It  is  apparent  that  she  tried  to  bring 
up  her  two  boys  in  the  fear  of  the  Lord.  One 
resisted  her  influence  and  rejected  her  teaching ; 
but  the  other  believed  her  and  obeyed  the  voice 
of  God.  In  him  was  promise  of  better  things. 
But  he  died  !  Died  at  his  altar.  The  return  was 
not  then. 

I  am  grateful  that  I  am  not  asked  to  explain 
the  terms  of  this  ancient  chronicle,  to  distinguish 
what  is  the  literal  fact  and  what  the  form  in 
which  it  appears.    I  cannot  think  that  any  man  is 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    89 

able  to  do  this  perfectly.  There  was  a  new  start, 
less  assuring  than  the  first.  There  are  few  clear 
pages  in  the  later  history.  Whatever  was  meant 
by  death,  it  has  come  in.  Not  that  men  were  to 
live  always,  and  in  this  method  of  life ;  but  we 
must  believe  that  the  change  which  advanced 
them  to  other  worlds  would  have  had  no  sadness. 
Why  should  it  ?  "  The  gloom,  the  knell,  the  pall, 
the  bier,"  would  not  have  belonged  with  it.  These 
have  come,  and  all  they  signify ;  and  the  beginning 
was  so  fine  !  What  might  have  been !  But  why 
think  of  that,  unless  even  yet  it  may  be  gained? 

There  are  other  accounts  of  these  things,  as 
has  been  said.  But  they  have  not  gained  a  place 
among  us.  There  has  been  no  reason  why  they 
should.  Yet  they  are  worth  reading,  if  only  for 
the  sake  of  contrast. 

The  Aryan  nations  had  a  conception  of  their 
own,  of  four  successive  ages  of  the  world.  Cre- 
ated things,  including  man,  were  to  last  through 
twelve  thousand  divine  years,  each  one  of  them 
comprising  three  hundred  and  sixty  of  the  years  of 
man.  The  ages  were  to  be  marked  by  a  gradual 
degeneracy  which  could  be  expressed  in  the  names 
of  the  metals  —  gold,  silver,  brass,  and  iron.  "  Our 
present  human  condition  is  the  age  of  iron,  the 
worst  of  all,  even  though  it  did  begin  with  the 
heroes."     It  was  in  India  that  this  scheme  was 


90    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN    OLDEST  LITERATURE 

most  fully  worked  out.  Among  the  Parsees  there 
is  a  different  account.  They  had  the  twelve 
thousand  years  in  four  equal  periods.  They  gave 
a  natural  and  weighty  emphasis  to  the  distinction 
between  the  light  and  the  dark,  which  passed 
easily  into  the  distinction  between  good  and  evil, 
where  it  is  still  found  convenient  and  expressive. 
Ormuzd,  Ahura  Mazda,  the  highest  divinity,  was 
the  creator  of  the  good,  and  dwelt  in  the  perfect 
light.  Ahriman,  Angra  Mainyus,  created  an  evil 
universe,  and  had  his  seat  in  the  deepest  darkness. 
The  two  opposing  powers  were  thus  apart,  with 
an  empty  and  neutral  space  between  them.  Into 
this  intervening  space  the  earth  was  lowered 
when  Ormuzd  had  made  it,  and  there  it  hung 
"  as  a  kind  of  outpost."  Ahriman  saw  what  was 
done,  and  was  roused  to  action.  He  bored  a  hole 
through  the  earth,  and  came  out  upon  its  surface, 
where  he  destroyed  the  two  inhabitants,  as  he  did 
those  who  were  set  in  their  place.  Thus  the 
earth  became  the  field  of  contest  between  good  and 
evil.  It  is  impossible  to  tell  with  any  approach 
to  certainty  when  or  in  what  place  the  great 
prophet  and  leader  of  this  faith  was  born,  Zoro- 
aster, otherwise  Zarathustra,  who  was  valiant 
against  the  forces  of  evil,  and  worked  toward 
the  final  triumph  of  the  good.  For  "at  last  the 
powers  of  good  will  win  the  victory  by  the  aid  of 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    91 

Saoshyans,  the  deliverer  who  is  to  come."  Then 
"  Ormuzd  will  gather  the  whole  human  race  into 
the  eternal  light  where  he  dwells."  Thus  the 
Parsees,  burning  the  sacred  fire,  and  reverencing 
the  Avesta,  their  most  sacred  book,  lived  in  the 
presence  of  unseen  forces,  paying  homage  to  many 
divinities,  to  things  in  heaven  and  things  on  the 
earth,  believing  in  practical  goodness,  expecting 
the  judgment  of  molten  metal,  and  waiting  for 
immortality.  To  describe  all  their  belief  in  de- 
tail would  be  impracticable  here,  if  it  were  not 
impossible.  Nor  does  the  modern  occidental  mind 
receive  much  light  from  their  explanation  of  the 
mysteries  before  us,  while  it  reads  them  with  re- 
spectful interest.  In  this  matter  of  the  departure 
of  man  from  God,  to  which  all  history  bears  wit- 
ness, the  accounts  are  more  elaborate,  but  not  more 
satisfying.  That  Ahriman  was  stronger  than  men 
is  no  help  to  us.  How  came  he  to  be  stronger? 
How  came  he  to  be  at  all  ?  Evil  is  pushed  one 
degree  farther  back,  and  from  the  serpent  is 
found  in  the  god.  But  the  relentless  "Why?" 
has  no  answer. 

One  thing,  never  to  be  lost  sight  of,  which 
marks  the  account  in  Genesis  in  lines  which  can- 
not be  effaced,  to  which  our  whole  moral  sense, 
our  religious  intuition,  our  profoundest  convic- 
tions,  assent;   before  which   Conscience  stands, 


92    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

throwing  its  entire  force  into  approbation  and 
admiration,  is  this  —  that  evil  did  not  begin  with 
God ;  did  not  and  could  not.  It  came  in  rebel- 
lion against  his  commandment,  in  revolt  against 
his  will,  in  defiance  of  his  penalty.  To  the  credit 
of  the  account  which  bears  no  name,  and  in  its 
pictures  commits  itself  to  our  intelligence,  let 
this  be  borne  in  mind.  All  our  ideas  are  con- 
fused, and  our  deepest  sentiments  are  put  to  rout, 
unless  the  Eternal  is  one  and  good.  When  all 
is  said,  do  we  not  return  with  satisfaction  to  the 
condensed  statements  in  Genesis,  aware  of  the 
unfolding  which  is  needed  at  every  point,  seeing 
room  for  theories  and  explanations,  and  willing  to 
have  them  arise  in  many  forms  ?  Are  we  not 
content  with  the  conclusion  of  an  old  writer: 
"  Behold,  this  only  have  I  found,  that  God  made 
man  upright ;  but  they  have  sought  out  many  in- 
ventions "  ?  I  have  not  forgotten  that  all  these 
things  were  long  ago,  and  I  have  assumed  our 
relation  to  them.  We  were  brought  up  in  that 
way.  Was  not  the  shorter  Catechism  —  shorter, 
but  quite  long  enough  —  pronounced  in  regard 
to  it  ?  I  do  not  mean  that  we  can  join  our  family 
line  to  the  first  man  who  ever  was.  Yet  we  must 
be  descended  from  him,  or  from  some  first  man, 
or  first  men,  who  received  of  the  life  of  his 
Maker.     I  see  no  reason  for  disturbing  the  com- 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    93 

mon  belief.  The  condition  of  things  around  us 
and  behind  us  began  somewhere.  We  have  seen 
a  rational  beginning,  and  it  is  easy  to  trace  our 
relationship.  I  shall  not  try  to  bridge  the  cen- 
turies. Theologians  are  not  agreed  about  much 
except  the  piers.  From  a  small  beginning  has 
come  a  great  family,  many  families,  with  a  common 
nature  which  is  of  greater  moment  than  all  which 
separates  us  into  tribes  and  nations. 

I  see  no  advantage  in  making  excursions  into 
unknown  lands.  It  will  be  found  that  the  relig- 
ious history  which  opens  with  these  unadorned 
pages  is  in  sad  agreement  with  them  in  all  its 
lengthened  course.  Perhaps  we  shall  be  more 
reconciled  to  the  beginning  when  we  approach 
the  end.  Men  increased.  They  scattered ;  when, 
we  cannot  tell.  They  went  their  ways,  and  long 
afterward  are  found  in  different  places,  and  with 
many  differences  of  condition,  but  in  thought 
and  life  separate  from  themselves  and  from  God. 
Wherever  they  are  seen  they  have  a  religion, 
that  is,  a  belief  in  powers  beyond  themselves 
and  mightier  than  they.  It  is  plain  that  religion 
is  a  part  of  the  common  nature.  In  many  other 
things  the  separated  peoples  are  unlike,  but 
Plutarch's  statement  was  true  in  his  time,  and 
if  we  give  it  a  wide  meaning  remains  true :  "  A 
city  without  a  temple  or  an  altar,  or  some  order 


94    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

of  worship,  no  man  ever  saw."  There  is  some- 
thing in  the  man  which  demands  a  religion  and 
finds  it  or  makes  it.  Centuries  pass,  but  the 
need  remains  and  bears  witness  to  the  reason 
which  is  in  it.  We  cannot  mistake  the  meaning 
of  this  flowing  on  of  human  thought.  It  calls  to 
mind  the  reasoning  with  which  Nansen  encour- 
aged himself  when  his  theories  were  at  fault  and 
his  way  through  the  ice  was  undiscovered.  He 
had  studied  it  all  out  in  advance.  He  expected 
to  find  a  shallow  polar  sea  and  a  current  which 
would  easily  move  him  upon  it.  He  came  to  the 
polar  sea  and  there  was  no  line  on  board  the 
"  Fram  "  long  enough  to  sound  the  waters  troubled 
by  his  daring.  His  theory  of  the  current  was  not 
sustained.  He  recalled  the  experience  of  an  older 
voyager,  that  Columbus  discovered  America  by 
means  of  a  mistake  made  by  another,  and  then 
he  wrote :  "  Heaven  only  knows  where  my  mis- 
take will  lead  us.  Only  I  repeat  once  more, 
4  The  Siberian  driftwood  on  the  coast  of  Green- 
land cannot  lie,  and  the  way  it  went  we  must  go.' " 
I  am  not  called  upon  to  define  the  varying  relig- 
ions which  the  world  has  known.  The  study  is 
most  interesting ;  it  has  drawn  many  students  to 
itself,  and  the  results  of  their  study  are  in  our 
hands.  With  all  this  instruction  we  can  answer 
the  inquiry  which  arises  at  this  point,  an  inquiry  of 


COURSE  OF  MAN   IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    95 

intense  significance  in  view  of  the  untold  millions 
over  whom  these  religions  hold  sway :  What  light, 
what  help,  do  they  offer  to  bring  men  back  to 
themselves,  and  to  God,  their  Maker  ?  Out  of  the 
confusion  comes  no  answer  to  create  a  certain  hope. 
The  problem  is  this  :  Man  was  like  God.  Man 
is  unlike  God.  Can  he  again  be  like  God? 
Whether  men  have  come  up  to  this  place,  or  have 
come  down  to  this  place,  here  they  are.  Can 
they  attain  to  the  fulness  of  life  ?  Lest  our  prog- 
ress should  in  any  way  be  hindered  by  this  con- 
cise statement,  let  us  regard  man  as  now  without 
a  proper  likeness  to  his  Creator,  whatever  be  the 
history  of  the  divergence,  and  inquire  if  there  is 
a  way  in  which  he  can  become,  or  can  be  made, 
like  God.  If  there  are  forces  working  within  him 
to  this  end,  can  these  be  enlarged,  quickened,  and 
guided  by  a  new  divine  force  ?  Is  this  new 
force  to  be  found?  That  there  is  truth  in  the 
world's  religions,  and  that  there  have  been  devout 
souls,  more  than  the  few  whose  names  are  pre- 
served, who  have  found  their  way  back,  and  have 
made  for  themselves  lives  of  virtue  and  beauty 
and  piety,  every  one  should  be  ready  to  admit, 
and  with  gratitude.  But  is  the  way  of  return 
open  to  all  people,  and  what  is  the  help  which 
seeks  them  and  finds  them,  and  what  is  the  high- 
way up  to  the  approval  of  God  ?     After  all  our 


96    COURSE   OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

reading  we  are  checked  with  the  question  on  our 
lips.     The  answer  would  not   come    to  us    very 
readily  in  any  case.     It  is  by  no   means  easy  to 
understand  the  religion  of  our  neighbor  when  it  dif- 
fers from  our  own.     To  clearly  comprehend  the  re- 
ligion of  another  nation,  parted  from  us  as  the  East 
is  from  the  West,  with  a  method,  and  expression, 
and  experience,  and   a  habit  of  mind  and  heart, 
quite  unlike  our  own  inheritance,  and  fashioning 
themselves  in  forms  which  to  us  are  strange  and 
confusing  and  unattractive,  is  an  improbable  at- 
tainment, if  it  be  not  quite  out  of  our  reach.     Let 
all  this   and  more  be  conceded.     Still,  a  way  of 
life  which  is  to  serve  a  nation  should  be  discerni- 
ble even  to  Gentiles.     Certainly,  if  it  is  pointed 
out  to  us,  we  should  be  able  to  see  it.     If  its  Gos- 
pel is  translated  into  our  own  tongue,  its  precepts, 
if  not  its  mysteries,  should  be  disclosed.     That  a 
system   of  recovery    which   suits  and  serves   the 
Oriental  does  not  commend  itself  to  us,  in  this 
cooler  clime,  is  not  of  much  account.     Is  there 
a  system  which  serves  him,  creates  hope,  quickens 
and  rewards  desire,  secures  the  rising  and  advance 
of  life,  delivers  it  from  bondage,  fosters  the  spirit- 
ual nature  which  is  his   birthright,  as  it  is  ours, 
and  all  men's,  brings  him  into  the  peace  of  his 
own  conscience,  and  changes  his  fear  of  God  into 
love  ?     This  is  the  real  inquiry,  and  where  shall 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE    97 

we  look  for  an  answer?  Anywhere,  for  all  the 
world  is  open  before  us,  and  men  are  religious 
everywhere.  We  cannot  range  the  earth  at  once. 
But  we  cannot  hastily  pass  by  the  thoughts  of 
men  whose  nature  and  need  are  as  our  own,  and 
who  have  felt  the  desires  which  we  know  so  well. 
No  one  can  enter  into  the  life  of  the  world,  into 
the  things  which  are  concerned  with  life  and 
destiny,  without  being  profoundly  impressed,  con- 
fused and  saddened.  "  Then  Job  answered  and 
said,  Of  a  truth  I  know  that  it  is  so ;  but  how 
can  man  be  just  with  God  ?  "  There  is  no  land 
where  the  question  has  not  stayed ;  often,  most 
often,  in  a  poor,  blind,  broken,  fearful  shape. 
The  question  is  a  part  of  the  common  nature,  and 
there  should  be  an  intelligent  answer.  Is  there  ? 
Where  is  it ?  If  we  reply,  "It  is  here,"  here  is 
but  a  narrow  canton  of  the  world.  Is  it  else- 
where ?  The  history  of  that  instructive  question, 
and  of  the  replies  which  men  have  fashioned,  is 
not  easily  read.  The  scroll  which  holds  it  is 
wrinkled  and  torn,  and  the  writing  is  not  always 
legible. 

In  such  studies  as  are  suggested  by  these  brief 
considerations  we  soon  find  that,  as  in  the  records 
of  the  rocks,  there  are  wide  spaces  to  be  filled. 
We  have  the  beginning,  of  which  we  are  assured, 
and  then  comes  a  break  in  the  story,  while  there 


98    COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

must  have  been  continuity  in  the  life.  Quite 
naturally  the  mind  turns  to  India,  where  the 
people  are  very  religious  and  nearly  all  the  chief 
religions  have  had  a  field,  and  an  opportunity  to 
manifest  their  power  and  defend  their  authority. 
It  is  impressive  that  while  so  much  has  taken 
place  there,  political  and  religious,  India  is  a  land 
almost  without  a  history.  We  are  ready  to  send 
out  the  wealth  of  the  Indies,  that  we  may  bring 
home  the  wealth  of  the  Indies,  as  we  are  required 
to  do.  But  the  ships  do  not  come  back  with 
Plims oil's  line  against  the  water.  It  is  by  no  light 
expenditure,  and  through  no  simple  process,  that 
we  can  secure  what  the  land  of  the  Ganges  has 
to  offer  us  of  faith  and  thought.  We  soon  leave 
dates  behind  us,  for  they  are  modern.  In  that 
land  of  mystery  everything  seems  old.  Unfortu- 
nately things  are  not  old  enough.  The  time  of 
Brahma,  the  creator,  the  supreme  intelligence 
dwelling  in  deep  contemplation,  is  far  away,  but 
not  so  far  that  we  can  read  a  simple  story  of  his 
life.  His  work  was  soon  completed,  and  Vishnu 
and  Siva,  his  allies,  then  received  the  greater 
honor.  The  preserver  and  the  destroyer  were 
worshipped,  with  a  multitude  of  divinities  of 
many  sorts.  There  was  small  promise  of  help  for 
the  world.  Under  this  teaching  sacrifices  have 
abounded,  but  they  have  been  offered  in  weari- 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE    99 

ness  of  the  world,  where  time  and  the  things  of 
time  have  ceased  to  be  of  interest,  and  in  the 
presence  of  illusion.  Even  in  this  dreariness  the 
people  could  not  stand  together,  dividing  the 
burden  of  their  dismay,  and  sharing  whatever  of 
good  any  one  chanced  to  realize,  but  they  sep- 
arated themselves  into  the  rigid  castes  which 
have  remained  in  their  power  to  hinder  and 
oppress. 

There  was  need  of  a  reformer,  and  he  came. 
It  was  in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth  century  be- 
fore Christ  that  Siddhartha,  the  prince,  who  came 
to  be  known  as  Buddha,  or  the  Buddha,  was 
born.  He  early  felt  the  miseries  of  life  and  fled 
from  them,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  deliver- 
ance of  mankind.  He  found  no  content  in  the 
teachings  of  the  Brahmans.  He  practised  austeri- 
ties, but  they  brought  him  no  rest.  At  length, 
after  a  prolonged  meditation,  he  learned  the  way 
of  rescue  which  he  had  sought.  Then  he  went 
forth  to  preach,  and  he  made  many  disciples,  and 
when  he  died,  eighty  years  old,  Buddhism  was  an 
established  rule  of  life,  which  in  time  extended 
over  India  and  beyond,  and  it  is  said  bore  sway 
over  a  third  of  the  people  of  the  earth.  Buddha, 
the  illumined  one,  who  saw  and  knew  the  truth, 
gave  to  men  a  person  whom  they  could  admire, 
whose  teachings  were  more  definite  than  they  had 


100  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

known,  whose  spirit  and  life  drew  the  credence  of 
needy  hearts.  There  is  a  lasting  charm  in  the 
story  of  this  life  which  has  kept  it  familiar.  It 
is  not  strange  that  he  holds  his  place  among  his 
followers  as  "  the  chiefest  among  ten  thousand." 
In  view  of  all  things  it  is,  perhaps,  not  strange 
that  so  large  a  part  of  the  world  should  call  itself 
after  his  name.  What  better  name  had  they? 
He  could  not  be  shielded  from  the  sight  of  evil. 
It  was  at  the  door  of  his  house  and  waited  beside 
his  path.  He  looked  beyond  and  saw  evil  and 
misfortune  extended  in  endless  re  turnings.  If  he 
could  break  up  the  clinging  to  life  he  would  set 
men  free.  If  he  could  teach  men  the  emptiness 
of  all  earthly  things,  and  induce  them  to  renounce 
that  in  which  they  found  delight,  their  deliver- 
ance would  be  accomplished.  Into  what  they 
were  to  escape  he  did  not  make  clear.  Nirvana 
has  commonly  been  regarded  as  the  final  end  of 
living,  though  it  may  not  be  this.  Still,  a  change 
so  complete  as  it  promised  would  be  the  end  of 
such  life  as  men  had  known  upon  the  earth.  In 
many  discourses  he  taught  his  doctrine  and 
offered  his  help.  He  made  great  account  of  man, 
differing  in  this  from  the  teachers  whom  he  dis- 
placed, who  made  God  everything.  He  set  his 
mind  on  time,  when  the  Brahman  aspired  to 
eternity.      By  acts  of  faith,  and  obedience,  and 


COURbE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE  101 

charity  he  would  bring  men  into  a  better  estate. 
The  result  was,  again,  disappointing.  Unques- 
tionably there  was  truth  in  Buddhism.  But  it 
was  not  itself  the  truth.  It  taught  virtue,  but  it 
was  patience  rather  than  action,  endurance  and 
not  enterprise,  which  it  commended.  It  treated 
woman  better  than  other  Eastern  religions,  but  it 
did  not  set  her  free,  in  her  own  place.  It  could 
not  hold  its  ground  in  the  country  in  which  it 
was  first  known.  It  has  been  clearly  pointed 
out  that  the  radical  fault  of  Buddhism  was  in 
its  selfishness.  "  It  rests  on  pure  individualism ; 
each  man's  object  is  to  save  his  own  soul."  It 
was  overthrown  in  India,  but  it  left  its  influence 
on  the  country  and  on  the  older  religions,  and 
it  found  a  home  in  other  neighboring  lands, 
where  its  believers  have  been  innumerable  and 
its  influence  immeasurable.  But  neither  in  India 
nor  elsewhere  has  it  made,  or  can  it  make,  such  a 
country  as  we  wish  the  world  to  resemble.  Budd- 
hism is  sadness.  It  could  not  establish  men 
in  comfort,  nor  constitute  a  state.  The  world 
needed  God,  the  Maker  and  Father  of  men, 
and  He  was  not  seen  there.  Men  knew  nothing 
of  his  love,  of  his  sjmipathy  and  help,  and  had  no 
thought  that  they  could  walk  with  Him,  even  in 
this  world  which  He  had  made  for  them.  In 
isolation,  egotism,  selfishness,  there  was  no  escape 


102  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

from  their  sorrow,  and  the  evil  which  produced 
it.     This  is  not  reasoning.     It   is  not  a  homily. 
It  is  a  result.     Man's  effort  to  find  God  and  be  at 
peace  with  Him  had  failed,  and  he  was  himself 
the  sign  of  its  failure.     There  was  no  hope  appar- 
ent, unless  God  should  come  to   men  and  raise 
them  to    Himself.     Would    He    do   this  ?     Who 
should  say  ?     Buddhism  was  not  in  itself  a  relig- 
ion.     It    recognized    the    gods    who   had    been 
known    in    the  land,  but   it   had  no  worship  for 
them.     It   was  willing   to  worship  Buddha,  and 
to   see   in   him   the  sovereign  of    life.     He   was 
Intelligence,  the  Enlightened  One,  and  by  many 
such  names  we  may  call  him.     But  he  was  not 
the  Light ;  a  beautiful  Star,  but  not  a  Sun ;  not 
even  a  planet  of  the  first  magnitude,  by  reason  of 
his  lack  of  light.     I  must  conclude  these  hints, 
happy  that  no  more  is  needed.     Yet  I  shall  bridge 
the  way  before  us    with   the    words  of   Maurice, 
whose  learning  and  fair  dealing  all  men  respect : 
"  I  ask  nothing  more  than  the  Hindoo  system  and 
the  Hindoo  life  as  evidence  that  there  is  that  in 
man  which  demands  a  revelation  —  that  there  is 
not  that  in  him  which  makes  the  revelation."     I 
have  been  interested  in  the  statement  in  a  letter 
just  published,  from  one  of  the  leading  advocates 
of  Oriental  belief,  that  the  principal  representative 
in  this  country  of  the  religious  thought  of  India  is 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE  103 

not  a  Buddhist,  and  that  the  Vedanta  has  been 
taught  "  as  a  system  of  philosophy  which  might 
underlie  Christianity  as  well  as  the  religion  of  the 
Hindoos." 

I  am  not  attempting  a  history,  or  even  a  sketch, 
of  the  religions  of  the  world  or  any  one  of  them. 
If  I  were,  I  should,  of  course,  give  a  much  fuller 
account  of  Buddhism,  which  has  admirers  among 
us,  and  I  should  go  to  other  nations.  It  would  be 
of  value  to  study  the  effect  of  Buddhism  away 
from  its  home.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  in  its 
course  it  received  aid  from  Christianity.  Its 
effects  can  be  traced  in  Japan,  where  it  helped  to 
raise  the  people  from  their  low  estate.  But  its 
work  there  reached  its  bounds.  That  the  Japanese 
have  made  a  great  advance  upon  many  lines  is 
evident.  A  few  men  have  felt  in  good  measure 
the  outer  influence  which  has  appealed  to  their 
own  striving,  and  wrought  with  it,  and  by  them 
the  nation  has  been  moved  forward.  But  there  is 
no  content  in  this.  Man  has  not  found  his  true 
self  as  the  child  of  God,  nor  come  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  his  will,  in  its  grace  and  truth.  The 
nations  all  bear  striking  witness  to  the  need  of  a 
light  which  is   not  of  men. 

We  can  form  our  own  judgment.  Even  with 
the  charm,  the  spell,  of  Oriental  mystery  upon  us, 
we    can   be   sane.       I    am    quite   sure    I   express 


104:  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

the  common  assurance,  based  upon  knowledge, 
that  it  is  not  to  India  we  are  to  look  for  the 
world's  enlightening  and  delivering  faith.  Not  to 
India  with  all  her  own  resources,  with  the  benefits 
of  Mohammedanism,  even  with  the  influence  of 
England,  with  the  presence  of  the  foreigner  in 
her  seaports,  with  any  natural  advance  which  can 
be  discovered,  with  the  teaching  of  a  few  Chris- 
tian missionaries,  can  we  look  for  the  faith  which 
is  to  strengthen  manhood,  liberate  and  exalt 
woman,  promote  robust  virtue,  restore  the  full 
divinity  of  life.  When  we  seek  life  for  the 
world,  it  is  not  there.     If  not  there,  where  is  it? 

I  wish  before  I  turn  from  these  hurried  thoughts 
upon  religious  systems  to  say  a  word  of  respect 
for  them,  and,  if  I  may,  to  make  them  tributary 
to  my  main  design.  Nothing  which  so  deeply 
concerns  the  heart  of  man,  and  has  a  real  part  in 
his  life,  can  be  rudely  handled  or  lightly  regarded. 

We  must  all  feel  the  justice  of  these  words  of  a 
thoughtful  teacher :  "  Nor  do  I  think  any  man 
of  modesty  or  thoughtfulness  will  ever  speak 
contemptuously  of  any  religion  in  which  God  has 
allowed  one  good  man  to  die,  trusting; "  and  fur- 
ther, "  You  will  always  measure  your  neighbor's 
creed  kindly,  in  proportion  to  the  substantial 
points  of  your  own."  Let  us  recognize  with 
gratitude   the    efforts   of   men    in  the  expression 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE  105 

of  the  religious  sentiment  and  in  the  attempt  to 
make  this  of  service  to  the  world.  There  is  here 
a  truth  of  the.  largest  significance.  It  is  not  the 
result  alone,  but  the  attempt  itself,  which  con- 
cerns us.  We  cannot  fail  to  notice,  in  the 
theories  and  professions  at  least,  the  insistence 
upon  morality,  the  assertion  of  the  authority  of 
the  right.  The  application  often  offends  us,  but 
there  is  a  thought,  a  feeling  within,  which  deserves 
regard.  "  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons  ;  but  in 
every  nation  he  that  feareth  Him  and  worketh 
righteousness  is  acceptable  to  Him."  The  study 
of  the  world's  religions  is  becoming  popular,  and 
with  good  reason.  They  have  been  too  long 
neglected  and  too  little  esteemed.  We  should 
be  informed  regarding  each  one,  and  the  relations 
between  them,  and  any  advance  which  can  be 
found  in  their  thought  and  influence. 

Whatever  else  they  may  be,  the  religions  of  the 
world  are  a  revelation  of  man.  They  disclose  his 
need  and  his  spiritual  nature.  If  they  do  not 
declare  a  capacity  for  intercourse  with  the  Divine 
Being,  they  do  make  known  his  ability  to  look 
beyond  himself  and  beyond  the  world,  and  to  find 
principalities  and  powers  filling  the  spaces  which 
enclose  the  stars.  He  sees  a  spirit  in  nature.  If 
he  confounds  this  with  the  things  he  looks  upon, 
and  sends  his  adoration  out  into  the  light,  or  even 


106  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE 

makes  images  to  represent  it, — images  which  are 
quite  sure  at  last  to  detain  his  thought  upon 
themselves,  —  this  is  something  of  account.  It  is 
much  when  men  believe  in  that  they  cannot  see, 
and  are  aware  of  a  life  above  their  own ;  differ- 
ent from  theirs,  but  sufficiently  like  it  for  com- 
munion, and  some  community  of  interest.  They 
may  admire  the  forces  and  authorities  about 
them  and  above  them,  or  only  fear  them  and 
•  head  their  approach.  What  they  do  is  of  less 
consequence  than  that  they  should  in  some  way 
think  upon  them,  know  that  they  are  there, 
believe  that  they  can  be  reached  with  prayers 
and  offerings  ;  that  by  sacrifices  their  anger  may 
be  averted  and  their  favor  secured.  We  may 
call  this  superstition,  but  there  are  worse  things 
than  superstition.  To  see  gods  everywhere  is  bet- 
ter than  to  see  God  nowhere.  Superstition  is  a 
perversion,  and  its  forms  are  often  degraded  until 
the  truth  winch  is  in  them  is  well-nigh  beyond 
recognition.  But  there  remains  a  point,  a  germ, 
of  which  something  can  be  made.  God  has  not 
left  Himself  without  witness,  nor  limited  this  to 
"rains  and  fruitful  seasons."  Whatever  has  been 
the  influence  of  these  religious  systems,  they  offer 
do  reason  for  withholding  a  fuller  revelation ;  nay, 
they  declare  a  reason  for  presenting  it,  in  their 
insufficiency,  and  in  their  witness  to  the  ability  of 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST   LITERATURE lOt 

men  to  be  religious.  Let  us  recognize  the  uni- 
versal religious  principle  in  man.  When  a  ship 
is  at  the  pier,  you  do  not  know  that  she  will 
move.  When  a  ship  is  a  hundred  miles  at  sea,  it 
is  safe  to  infer  that  she  will  go  farther. 

Roswell  Hitchcock  truly  said :  "  Even  if  religion 
were  altogether  a  superstition,  it  is  an  inevitable 
and  an  indispensable  superstition."  The  worship, 
however  poor,  of  nature,  or  the  power  or  powers 
whose  form  is  nature,  whose  dwelling  is  in  the 
light  of  rising  and  setting  suns  ,  —  the  endowing 
of  nature  with  personal  qualities  to  which  men 
can  address  themselves  ,  —  are  a  witness  to  the  far 
away  origin  of  the  mind  to  which  such  conceptions 
are  possible  and  natural.  It  is  the  stifled  cry  of 
men  upon  a  raft  in  mid-ocean,  when  the  ship 
has  gone  down  and  no  land  rises  from  the  many 
billowed  waters,  and  there  is  no  bread  on  the  im- 
planted sea.  It  may  be  dreadfully  low,  this  super- 
stition of  the  world.  If  there  was  "  no  gentleman 
on  Olympus,"  what  can  be  said  of  the  Pantheon 
of  savagery?  The  likeness  of  the  gods  to  those 
who  made  them  is  too  sad  for  anything  but  pity, 
unless  it  be  hope.  We  are  upon  the  lowest  plane. 
There  are  better  things  farther  up.  There  are 
noble  thoughts,  beautiful  sentiments,  worthy  aspi- 
rations, brave  attempts  at  a  truer  and  happier  life. 
What  revelations  the  Father  of  all  men  has  made 


108  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

as  the  centuries  have  rolled  on,  we  may  not  be 
able  to  tell.  He  has  not  separated  Himself  from 
the  world,  nor  lightly  regarded  any  one's  need. 
There  is  a  true  light  "  which  lighteth  every  man 
that  cometh  into  the  world ;  "  a  saying  as  simple 
and  natural  as  it  is  rich  in  promise,  and  worthy 
of  the  place  in  which  it  is  recorded.  The  appeal 
is  not  to  credulous  charity  and  amiable  desire, 
but  to  a  broad  reason,  a  discerning  vision,  and 
to  our  faith  in  God,  the  maker  of  the  heaven 
and  the  earth,  and  the  man.  In  the  study 
of  our  fellow-men,  it  is  required  of  us  that 
we  make  the  most  and  the  best  of  all  that 
we  discover.  It  is  not  strange  that  when  we 
wander  beyond  the  domain  which  we  have  in- 
herited we  find  little  which  pleases,  and  nothing 
which  contents  us.  The  sad,  unmistakable  fact  is 
this,  that  the  religions,  and  forms  of  religion,  upon 
which  we  are  lingering  for  a  moment  are  not  good, 
even  for  those  who  have  nothing  else.  They  do 
not  give  them  the  light  and  life  which  every  man 
must  need;  they  do  not  meet  the  wants  of  those 
who  cling  to  them,  nor  do  they  promise  ever  to  do 
this.  There  is  too  little  truth,  and  too  much 
error;  too  little  which  strengthens,  and  too  much 
which  enervates  ;  too  little  from  above,  and  too 
much  from  the  earth.  We  may  regard  it  as 
proven,   that  no  religion  made  by  men  can  do  for 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE  109 

men  that  which  must  be  done.  Let  us  not 
blame  men  for  not  doing  what  is  beyond  their 
power.  Let  us,  rather,  look  up  to  the  hills 
from  whence  came  life  in  the  beginning.  If 
God  is  our  Father,  as  we  say,  He  will  speak  to 
us.  "Adam,  where  art  thou?  "  when  we  hear  it, 
summons  us  to  God.  I  do  not  see  why  we  may 
not  take  life  at  first  hand.  God  is  more  easily 
reached  than  men ;  and  there  is  satisfaction  when 
one  is  learning  from  Him. 

Think  what  it  is  which  needs  to  be  effected. 
It  is  the  renewing  of  a  man's  life ;  of  his 
conduct,  but  more  than  that  —  of  the  stream  of 
life  upon  which  conduct  is  borne.  Life  itself 
must  be  made  pure,  godlike,  as  it  was  when 
it  came  with  the  breath  of  the  Eternal,  with 
the  being  of  the  man.  A  change  so  deep 
and  thorough  and  essential  can  only  be 
wrought  by  Him  who  first  created  man.  I  am 
carrying  Virchow's  words  farther  than  he  in- 
tended, but  the  analogy  is  close,  and  analogy  in 
this  is  not  far  from  argument.  Life  can  come 
only  from  life,  he  said.  The  life  of  the  soul,  the 
spirit,  can  come  only  from  the  living  and  eternal 
Spirit.  Here  the  religions  of  the  world  fail. 
They  lack  the  creative  power.  Something  of 
truth,  of  virtue,  of  spirit,  they  may  have.  But 
not  the  divine,  spiritual   vitality,   cleansing  and 


110  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

quickening  the  thoughts  and  desires  of  the  soul. 
The  facts  are  before  us.  Efforts  at  reform  are 
made,  notably  in  India,  and  by  men  who  are  in 
earnest,  and  who  have  apparently  rays  from  the 
Light  of  the  world,  if  I  may  change  the  figure.  But 
they  do  not  bring  their  own  life  or  the  nation's 
life  to  the  new  Life  itself,  the  Life  which  is  fully 
the  light  of  men.  Religion  should  be  simple, 
dignified,  exalted,  evoking  the  homage  which  it 
f osters  and  rewards.  It  should  promote  human 
life,  sanctify  the  home,  enlarge  virtue,  quicken 
ambition,  promote  enterprise,  secure  knowledge, 
make  the  man  more  and  more  conscious  of  himself, 
and  awake  to  his  divine  lineage.  Little  of  this  do 
you  find  where  men  have  been  left  to  themselves. 
Is  there  a  better  test  of  a  religion  than  the  place  it 
gives  to  woman?  Doubtless  there  are  pleasant 
homes,  sacred  loves,  happy  mothers  and  children, 
where  men  have  wrought  out  their  own  faith. 
Find  as  many  as  you  can.  Unless  our  standards 
are  local  and  inadequate,  such  things  are  very  far 
from  the  rule.  Those  who  have  looked  longest 
and  most  carefully  bring  the  report  of  little  glad- 
ness and  hope,  little  liberty  and  promise;  much 
of  sadness  turning  to  despair.  I  need  not  here 
call  to  mind  the  Pundita  Ramabai  whose  pitiful 
tale  of  her  countrywomen  has  been  forgotten  by 
mi  one  who  heard  it  a  few  months  ago.     She  gave 


COURSE   OF  MAN  IN   OLDEST  LITERATURE  111 

but  a  glimpse  of  her  India,  but  it  was  a  native 
woman's  look,  and  from  it  came  a  sister's  plea. 
Only  a  little  of  India  she  disclosed,  only  pieces  of 
real  life.  Many  remember  the  prayer  of  the 
child-widow  which  she  repeated :  "  0  Father  of 
the  world,  hast  Thou  not  created  us?  Or  has 
perchance  some  other  god  made  us  ?  Dost  Thou 
only  care  for  men  ?  O  Almighty  One,  hast  Thou 
not  power  to  make  us  other  than  we  are,  that  we 
too  may  have  some  part  in  the  blessings  of  life?" 
I  believe  there  is  still  an  association  in  Boston 
which  sends  New  England  pity  and  money  for  the 
succor  of  imprisoned  lives  in  India.  Ramabai 
was  seen  only  a  little  time  ago  in  the  white, 
graceful  dress  of  her  country,  with  her  face 
radiant  with  thankfulness,  and  the  inspiration  of 
truth  and  light  covering  her.  Her  tender,  elo- 
quent voice  was  heard  in  Channing  Hall,  begging 
with  resistless  confidence  for  a  "  Faith,  Hope,  and 
Love  Home  "  for  the  women  and  girls  of  India. 
Must  it  be  proved  that  the  misery  she  asks  us  to 
relieve  is  the  result  of  the  religion  of  the  land  ?  I 
but  remind  you  that  the  religion  of  the  land  lias 
allowed  it,  and  has  not  removed  it,  and  does  not 
expect  to  remove  it.  Shall  I  say,  does  not  know 
how  to  remove  it? 

To  study  the  world's  religions  one  by  one,  and 
with  comparison,  is  of  little  more    than  historic 


112  COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

use,  unless  we  can  discover  some  principle  which 
pervades  them  and  consents  to  the  varying  forms 
in  which  it  is  embodied.  The  forms  are  not  acci- 
dental, but  come  readily  into  the  character  and 
condition  of  different  peoples.  If  there  should  be 
found  a  common  principle  in  them,  this  would  not 
be  accidental,  but  must  arise  from  a  common 
source.  I  do  not  think  the  one  principle  is  hard 
to  find,  or  to  comprehend.  It  is  the  recognition 
of  powers  beyond  men,  invisible  but  real,  with 
which  men  are  in  actual  personal  relation.  This 
belongs  in  human  nature,  and  can  be  traced  to 
the  origin  of  the  human  nature  in  the  divine 
nature  from  which  the  life  of  man  proceeds. 
With  the  fact  of  creation  by  one  Creator  out 
of  his  own  life,  beside  which  there  is  no  other, 
comes  as  a  simple  consequence  the  consciousness 
of  that  life,  and  the  feeling  toward  its  origin. 
Kept  in  life  by  One  who  gave  him  his  being,  what 
is  more  likely  than  that  man  will  feel  the  presence 
which  surrounds  him  —  a  presence  uninterrupted 
since  the  beginning? 

The  unity  of  feeling  is  of  vaster  moment  than 
tin-  diversity  in  which  it  finds  expression.  The 
th inking  of  the  world  has  not  been  clear  or  con- 
stunt.  Behind  gods  often  may  be  discerned  one 
supreme  presence,  and  through  forms  grotesque 
may   be   dimly   detected  a  thought   better   than 


COURSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE  113 

its  images.  Fetichism  has  been  described  as  "  a 
superstitious  veneration  for  rubbish."  Whence 
does  the  veneration  come?  Even  if  it  be  utterly 
useless,  and  sometimes  much  worse,  what  is 
its  meaning?  Is  it  all  the  degradation  of  a 
better  thought  ?  Or  is  it  the  blind,  very  blind, 
long  blind,  and  blinded  instinct  of  the  soul 
which  perforce  sees  a  somewhat  past  itself?  It 
sees  it  so  very  dimly,  and  expresses  its  feeling  so 
rudely,  that  it  does  not  hesitate  to  wreak  its  dis- 
appointment upon  the  image  before  which,  when 
things  go  well,  it  is  ready  to  pay  homage.  Still, 
a  feeling  is  there  which  witnesses  to  somewhat 
outside  of  the  body. 

Some  may  remember  a  visit  made  to  us 
not  many  years  ago  by  the  Zuni  Indians.  We 
heard  their  long  stories,  translated  by  their  white 
brother,  Cushing,  who  had  learned  many  things 
of  them.  But  what  was  of  the  highest  interest 
was  a  sail  down  the  harbor,  that  they  might 
worship.  We  landed  on  an  island,  and  were 
full  of  curiosity.  The  Indians  disappeared  for  a 
time,  and  on  their  return  they  walked  into  the 
sea,  and  then  with  a  solemnity  I  have  never  seen 
surpassed,  under  the  open  sky,  careless  of  all 
around  them,  they  sang  their  mystic  chant,  and 
threw  out  upon  the  air  from  their  uplifted 
hands  the  grain  they  offered  to  the  god  of  the 


114  CO URSE  OF  MAN  IN  OLDEST  LITERATURE 

waters,  and  let  it  float  away  whithersoever  he 
would,  for  it  was  his,  and  he  had  taken  it.  That 
was  worship.  I  do  not  know  by  what  name  they 
called  their  divinity.     We  call  Him  God. 

If  we  pass  to  higher  forms  of  religion,  we  see 
men  turning  to  the  heavens  from  which  come  the 
names  of  the  divinities,  and  the  figure  of  their 
quality.  There  is  a  beauty  in  a  faith  like  this, 
which  associates  with  the  sun  and  the  dawn,  with 
Ore  and  light,  the  powers  to  which  reverence  and 
prayer  are  due.  The  divinity  is  above,  out  of 
reach,  never  fashioned  by  the  hands  of  men,  re- 
maining for  ages,  and  boundless  in  its  riches.  Or 
there  may  be  a  larger  view  which  includes  the 
partial  visions,  and  thus  stands  nearer  to  the 
truth.  Different  divinities  may  stand  for  one 
God.  This  was  at  times  the  thought  of  the 
Brahman  ;  but  it  did  not  prevent  caste,  nor  with- 
hold its  sanction  from  vice.  Against  this  Buddh- 
ism rebelled,  with  its  insistence  upon  morality 
and  humanity.  But  all  this,  and  all  which  we 
name  paganism,  cannot  dishearten  me  so  much  as 
the  poor,  broken  thought  of  unseen  spiritual  forces 
gives  encouragement.  It  is  sad  that  a  man  should 
bow  before  his  idol:  it  were  worse  if  he  did  not 
bow  at  all.  You  can  take  away  the  idol,  and 
leave  him  kneeling,  and  that  is  a  good  posture  in 
which  to  see  God  and  worship  Him. 


Ill 

THE  SON   OF   MAN  IN  EARLY   LITERATURE 


THE  SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITER- 
ATURE 


This  is  1898.  The  fixed  point  "in  the  files 
of  time  "  from  which  the  years  are  reckoned  was 
found  in  a  small  and  remote  province  of  the 
empire,  and  in  the  night  when,  in  the  house- 
hold of  a  village  carpenter,  far  from  his  home,  a 
child  was  born.  Strange  things  are  told  of  this 
by  men  who  were  near  when  it  occurred.  A 
writer  of  scientific  pretension,  then  a  well-known 
physician,  has  related  that  on  that  night,  while 
shepherds  were  watching  their  flocks,  an  angel 
bright  with  celestial  glory  appeared,  and  told 
what  had  happened  in  the  town  beside  their  field ; 
and  that  presently  a  heavenly  host  was  heard 
singing  into  the  silence  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis. 
This  was  certainly  remarkable,  and  the  narrative 
separates  itself  from  common  legends,  not  only 
by  the  fact  that  it  was  written  by  that  man  and 
at  that  time,  but  by  its  position  in  a  biography 
whose  events  are  presented  in  prosaic  simplicity 
and  directness,  to  the  intent,  as  the  author  states, 


120       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

churches.  Every  department  of  the  University 
Library  would  be  laid  under  tribute,  and  proposals 
to  shorten  the  years  of  study  would  be  delayed. 
After  all  this,  the  real  explanation  might  not  be 
discovered. 

It  is  evident  that  I  cannot  answer  the  inquiry 
which  I  have  started.  Nor  can  I  trace  the  steps 
by  which  our  chronology  has  been  established. 
The  fixed  point  is  an  intrusion,  but  one  that  has 
justified  itself.  The  whole  matter  of  the  calendar 
is  both  interesting  and  curious.  There  are  cer- 
tain natural  divisions  of  time,  made  by  the  change 
of  day  and  night,  the  course  of  the  moon,  and 
arrangement  of  the  seasons.  Yet  there  were  diffi- 
culties enough  on  every  side,  while  the  great 
thing  was  to  find  a  starting-point.  Each  nation 
could  easily  select  one  for  itself,  but  this  was  too 
provincial  to  last ;  and  to  find  a  day  for  two 
nations,  or  three,  was  not  easy. 

It  would  seem  well-nigh  impossible  to  find  any 
man  of  whose  life  any  one  day  could  be  agreed 
upon  by  the  people  of  other  nations  whose  own 
heroes  were  thus  openly  passed  by.  Imagine 
such  an  attempt  to  be  made  now!  Yet  that  was 
done.  The  Hebrew  counted  the  years  from  the 
beginning  of  the  world,  a  convenient  place,  to 
which  no  one  could  object  on  the  ground  of  sec- 
tarianism, if  the  time  could  be  discovered,  which 


SON   OF  MAN   IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      121 

seems  more  difficult  now  than  it  was  then.  The 
Roman  counted  from  the  founding  of  Rome, 
which  was  a  natural  assertion  of  his  national 
importance.  The  Greek  was  of  a  different  temper 
and  began  with  the  Olympic  games,  or  with  that 
one  in  which  Coroebus  gained  the  first  recorded 
victory,  which  was  a  little  earlier  than  the  start- 
ing-point of  the  Romans.  There  are  various  Ori- 
ental methods  of  arranging  the  years,  as  from 
the  flight  of  Mohammed  from  Mecca  to  Medina, 
or  the  accession  of  Yezdegird,  or  the  Council  of 
Tiben.  These  we  need  not  consider.  Nor  need 
we  linger  upon  smaller  calendars  which  were 
based  on  various  local  events.  To  the  system 
of  his  country,  wherever  that  might  be,  the 
Christian  conformed.  It  was  his  way,  and  he  was 
not  so  presumptuous  as  to  think  that  the  events 
which  were  most  significant  in  his  thought  would 
work  a  change  so  stupendous  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world  as  to  displace  the  systems  of  time  by  which 
they  were  arranged.  It  was  certainly  not  to  be 
expected  that  the  Roman  government,  under 
whose  decree  Christ  had  been  crucified,  would 
place  him  at  the  beginning  of  its  history.  It  was 
long  in  doing  this,  but  it  was  done  at  last.  It 
seems  to  have  come  about  in  this  way:  The 
Emperor  Justinian  had  directed  that  all  public 
documents    should  be  dated  by  the  year  of    the 


122       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

emperor  and  the  name  of  the  consul ;  but  in  our 
year  541  he  gave  up  the  practice  of  nominating 
consuls,  and  it  became  necessary  to  fix  upon  some 
new  point  from  which  time  could  be  measured. 
The  Justinian  code  of  Civil  Law,  which  had  just 
been  published,  made  it,  perhaps,  seem  more  impor- 
tant that  the  matter  of  dates,  with  which  the  laws 
would  have  much  to  do,  should  be  adjusted  in  a 
rational  and  permanent  way.  Since  the  Roman 
law  was  to  be  so  widely  extended,  and  furnish 
principles  of  jurisprudence  for  many  countries 
and  many  centuries,  it  was  fitting  that  the  initial 
point  of  the  new  chronology  should  be  of  uni- 
versal value.  I  do  not  know  that  all  this  was 
thought  of,  but  it  might  well  have  been  regarded. 
The  fact  that  such  a  point  was  found  and  adopted 
shows  that  in  their  action  the  Romans  were  wiser 
than  they  knew.  Now  it  happened  —  if  we  may 
use  such  a  term  for  a  course  of  events  worthy 
of  wiser  direction  —  it  happened  that  a  Roman 
abbot,  who  bore  the  not  unusual  name  of  Diony- 
sius,  but  was  distinguished  by  the  epithet 
Exiguus,  probably  because  he  was  small  of  stature, 
had  begun  in  his  tables  for  Easter  to  count  the 
years  from  the  birth  of  Christ.  Among  them- 
selves Christians  had  before  reckoned  from  their 
Lord,  but  from  his  crucifixion;  now  the  Incar- 
nation, as  it  was  regarded,  was  to  make  the  begin- 


SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      123 

ning  of  a  new  era.  This  Dionysius  was  a  man  of 
high  standing ;  a  Scythian,  but  renowned  in  the 
Latin  church  for  his  great  learniner,  which 
appeared  in  his  collection  of  ecclesiastical  laws, 
of  canons  and  decretals.  But  his  larger  work 
and  extended  fame  were  in  this  simpler  matter 
of  the  calendar,  in  which  his  thought  was  to  have 
a  far  wider  and  larger  range  than  any  one  on  earth 
could  have  imagined.  He  could  not  tell  with 
precision  the  time  when  Christ  was  born,  and  in 
his  computation  there  is  an  error  of  four  or  five 
years.  That  is  of  no  importance  here,  although 
it  would  need  to  be  taken  into  account  in  the 
College  examination.  But  the  idea  of  the  abbot 
was  at  once  popular.  The  time  had  come  for  it. 
It  met  a  want,  and  under  conditions  which  com- 
mended it.  That  was  in  the  sixth  century,  as 
we  now  count.  The  idea  kept  its  place  and  grew 
in  favor.  It  was  taken  into  the  learning  of  Bede, 
or  Beda,  and  advanced  with  it.  Charlemagne  gave 
his  influence  to  its  extension,  and  by  the  eighth 
century  it  was  very  widely  in  use,  and  was  still 
advancing,  until  it  has  become  established  as  the 
fixed  point  of  the  world's  chronology.  I  do  not 
mean  that  there  was  anything  mysterious  in  this, 
but  that  it  was  very  remarkable;  an  impressive 
fact  of  which  account  should  be  made.  Such 
facts  are  of  consequence  as  expressing  truths  and 


124       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

tendencies  in  clear  and  compact  form.  This  was 
of  that  nature.  The  prominence  to  which  Chris- 
tianity had  attained,  and  the  recognition  which  it 
had  acquired  in  the  empire,  prepared  the  way  for 
this  act  of  homage. 

Of  course  the  date  has  moved  with  events. 
But  how  did  it  get  among  the  events,  and  belong 
with  them  ?  It  moved  with  law,  language, 
custom,  and  it  remained  when  these  had  been 
driven  back.  It  stayed  wherever  it  went.  Other 
things  changed,  but  this  was  as  fixed  as  the  course 
of  the  planets.  We  do  not  need  to  trace  it  in 
scattered  syllables  and  obscure  usages ;  it  stands 
in  its  own  right,  and  is  conspicuous  in  its  dignity 
and  authority.  In  its  universal  use  it  is  the  per- 
petual memorial  of  Him  whose  birthday  it  records. 
No  man  can  date  a  letter,  and  think  what  he  is 
doing,  without  bringing  Christ  before  his  mind. 
What  other  fact,  in  the  entire  history  of  the  world, 
is  constantly  mentioned,  and  kept  in  connection 
with  the  life  of  men  throughout  its  whole  extent, 
from  centre  to  circumference  ;  in  politics,  science, 
business,  religion  ;  in  the  birth  of  the  child,  the 
movement  of  the  man,  the  government  of  the 
nation  ?  Shall  we  ask  the  reason  for  this  ?  I  do 
not  wish  to  force  the  evident  truth  beyond  that 
which  is  just.  But  when  I  regard  it  as  I  would 
any  fact  of  nature,  any  other  fact  of  history,  I 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE       125 

cannot  avoid  the  belief,  which  to  me  is  most 
grateful,  that  herein  is  a  divine  thought,  and  that 
this  is  one  sign  of  the  divine  purpose,  one  witness 
to  the  mission  of  Him  who  was  born  at  Bethlehem, 
one  promise  that  his  work  is  to  be  worldwide  and 
enduring. 

We  have  here  the  life  in  which  the  recovery  of 
man  is  to  be  fulfilled.  The  world  lias  decidedly 
and  permanently  made  recognition  of  its  opening 
day.  It  is  a  singular  fact,  to  be  carefully  regarded. 
My  present  proposition  is  this  :  As  the  Creator 
gave  to  man  of  his  own  life  in  the  beginning,  and 
that  life  has  lost  its  virtue  while  in  man's  pos- 
session, the  Creator  has  again,  in  these  last  times, 
and  by  a  man,  given  his  life  to  the  world. 

We  have  lingered  at  the  birth  of  the  new  man. 
We  are  to  move  on  for  thirty  years  and  mark  his 
life.  Let  us  remember  the  simplicity  of  the  event 
from  which  we  start,  and  the  glory  connected 
with  it.  Its  light  is  shining  upon  our  path  all 
the  day.  The  record  of  the  life  is  in  books  held 
in  reverence  in  many  lands.  Special  divine  illu- 
mination and  guidance  have  been  claimed  for  their 
writers;  and  in  the  minds  of  wise  men  the  claim 
has  been  well  sustained.  Such  assistance  could 
readily  be  given.  But  the  books  have  their  own 
claims  upon  our  attention  and  confidence.  They 
offer  unusual  advantages  for  the  study  now  before 


126       SON   OF  MAN   IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

us,  in  that  they  contain  four  separate  biographies 
of  Him  whose  birthday  we  all  regard.  There  is 
no  parallel  for  this.  There  are  these  sufficiently 
complete  narratives,  written  independently,  after, 
bul  not  too  long  after,  the  life  which  they  present. 
They  were  written  under  different  conditions,  for 
different  immediate  purposes,  and  with  consider- 
able' intervals.  It  is  not  exaggeration  to  say  that 
no  one  living  in  that  time,  or  within  many  cen- 
turies of  it,  can  be  so  well  known  as  He  whom  we 
have  to  know  if  we  are  to  be  well  informed.  Not 
only  the  incidents  of  his  career,  but  his  spirit, 
his  intentions,  his  methods,  his  character  and 
assertions,  his  deep  thoughts  and  purposes,  are 
placed  before  us,  in  many  lights,  with  varied 
illustrations,  with  many  repetitions,  with  an 
honesty  and  simplicity  which  are  nowhere  ex- 
celled. If  it  is  possible  for  scholarship  to  deter- 
mine the  importance  of  any  ancient  literature, 
then  it  has  been  done  in  this  instance.  No  effort 
lias  been  spared,  no  test  has  been  denied,  no  re- 
search  hindered.  Reverence  and  irreverence,  the 
desire  to  believe  and  the  readiness  to  doubt,  have 
done  their  earnest  work  here.  It  is  a  rare  tribute 
t"  the  worth  of  these  biographies  that  they  have 
been  able  to  draw  to  themselves  the  attention  of 
such  men  as  have  been  enlisted  in  their  study. 
Think    when    they   were  made,   to   what    writers 


SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      127 

they  were  assigned,  in  what  land  they  had  their 
origin,  to  what  subjects  they  relate,  and  see  that 
here  again  is  testimony  to  the  value  and  the  in- 
tegrity of  these  books.  We  have  no  autograph 
manuscripts,  and  fortunately  none  which  claim 
such  distinction.  But  we  come  near  to  them, 
and  may  come  closer.  There  are  tales  now  and 
then  of  antique  fragments  found  in  convents 
and  other  ruins.  But  as  it  is,  we  come  near  to 
men  who  saw  Christ.  I  do  not  wish  to  claim  too 
much,  and  I  am  quite  ready  to  accept  the  conclu- 
sions of  sincere,  painstaking  study  on  all  literary 
questions.  The  conclusions  should  be  in  all 
respects  scholarly ;  thorough  and  thoroughly  fair, 
and  in  the  interest  of  truth  alone.  But  we  may 
well  despair  of  knowledge  of  the  early  days  if, 
after  all  that  has  been  done,  these  simple  treatises 
are  not  to  be  confidently  regarded  as  the  trust- 
worthy record  of  the  events  in  which  they  claim 
to  have  had  their  origin.  T  do  not  care  to  insist 
that  at  every  point  and  in  every  word  they  are 
rigidly  exact,  but  that  they  are  true,  as  we  use 
that  term,  and  give  the  truth  in  simple  forms. 
Their  contents  might  well  make  us  unusually 
careful,  but  they  should  not  alter  our  canons  of 
study,  nor  invalidate  the  processes  of  our  reason, 
nor  make  us  unreasonable  in  our  demands.  We 
may   allow   for   difference    of    conclusion     upon 


128       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

special  questions.  But  when  all  has  been  said, 
the  conclusions  of  scholarly  thought  find  in  these 
pages  the  true  presentment  of  the  life  of  Him  who 
moves  in  them. 

I  speak  of  these  writings  as  literature.  That 
the  books  have  special  qualities,  which  raise 
them  above  other  books,  I  firmly  believe.  But 
I  do  not  wish  to  contend  for  all  which  person- 
ally I  hold  to  be  true  and  proven.  For  my 
purpose  it  seems  best  to  regard  them  as  the  writ- 
ings of  men  honest  and  intelligent,  and  to  read 
them  with  the  same  openness  and  readiness  of 
mind  which  we  should  give  to  them  if  they  were 
not  concerned  with  such  things  as  fill  their  pages. 
In  referring  to  these  writings  I  have  used  the 
convenient  term  "  biographies."  This  is  not  en- 
tirely correct.  In  the  best  sense  they  are  not 
biographies,  with  a  definite  beginning,  and  a  clear 
and  connected  account  of  events,  with  names  and 
dates,  and  all  the  framework  of  a  life.  They  are 
such  writings  as  you  would  expect  from  un- 
lettered, intelligent,  honest  men.  There  is  no 
sign  of  art,  no  pretence  to  literary  skill,  no  ob- 
i  ruding  of  the  authors.  Each  writer  presents  the 
statement  of  that  which  he  knew,  and  thought  it 
accessary  to  preserve  and  circulate,  concerning 
One  who  had  claimed  and  received  his  homage. 
This  is  line,  this  personal  interest  and  freedom,  in 


SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      129 

which  four  men  prepared  four  accounts  of  the  one 
life.  Neither  wrote  a  complete  memoir,  but  each 
did  better  in  describing  the  life  itself;  the  spirit 
and  purpose  which  were  in  more  deeds  than  have 
been  recorded.  They  wrote  from  their  personal 
recollection,  from  common  memories  of  words  and 
deeds  constantly  recalled,  perhaps  in  some  portions 
from  separate  records  of  special  events.  Their 
design  was  to  tell  as  clearly  as  they  could  the 
truths  which  had  become  a  part  of  their  life,  and 
concerning  which  error  was  unreasonable.  They 
did  not  shut  out  the  light  which  according  to 
the  promise  had  come  to  them.  They  may 
have  learned  new  words,  but  they  had  also  learned 
how  to  employ  words  not  new.  Thus  it  is  said 
that  one  of  the  writers  borrowed  the  term  Logos, 
which  he  applied  to  the  Master.  He  was  at 
liberty  to  do  this,  if  he  found  the  word  con- 
venient. The  natural  question  is,  not  what  the 
word  meant  where  he  found  it,  but  what  use  he 
made  of  it  in  describing  the  life  of  One  who  was 
the  subject  of  his  writing.  Read  it  in  its  place, 
as  you  hear  an  instrument  in  an  orchestra. 

It  is  a  life  which  is  given  to  us.  We  find  it 
moving  quietly,  steadily  forward,  not  more  inter- 
rupted by  lines  between  events  than  is  the  course 
of  a  ship  by  the  meridians  it  crosses.  We  feel 
its  presence.      We  are  conscious  of  an  idea,   an 


130       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

intent,  possessing  the  years,  and  going  constantly 
on  to  fulfil  itself.  Incidents  attract  and  interest 
us,  but  it  is  the  life  and  the  purpose  incarnate 
in  it  which  take  the  strongest  hold  upon  our 
thought,  upon  our  admiration  and  confidence. 
Yet  the  forms  in  which  the  thought  was  embodied 
are  of  great  value.  We  feel  the  spirit ;  but  the 
spirit  must  be  manifested  in  order  to  be  known. 

But  these  records  do  not  stand  by  themselves. 
They  can  be  read  alone,  with  nothing  before  and 
nothing  after  them.  Even  thus  they  would  be 
instructive  beyond  all  other  literature.  But  no 
one  can  read  them  intelligently  without  perceiv- 
ing that  they  are  the  extension  of  writings  which 
were  before  them.  Not  to  read  the  entire  litera- 
ture is  as  if  we  should  study  the  Puritans  without 
regard  to  the  English  history  in  which  they  come 
to  light  and  do  their  first  work.  Of  all  the  lives 
that  have  been  lived,  the  life  of  Christ  can  least 
afford  to  be  studied  in  sections,  which  are  re- 
garded as  complete.  I  think  that  everything 
which  bears  the  name  of  heresy  rests  upon  pieces 
of  truth,  and  not  upon  truth  in  its  wholeness 
and  variety. 

We  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  modern 
Testament,  properly  called  New,  the  New 
Covenant.  All  along  the  way  this  turns  us 
back  to  the  earlier  stages  of  the  thought.     The 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      131 

Master  was  constantly  referring  to  the  Hebrew 
Scriptures,  and  showing  the  vital  connection  of 
his  life  with  that  which  had  been  written.  He 
could  do  this,  for  with  the  exception  of  names 
and  dates,  the  story  of  his  life  can  be  read  in 
the  Old  Testament  almost  as  well  as  in  the 
New.  His  biography  was  given  in  advance,  even 
as  He  said,  and  his  purpose  was  to  complete  it. 
Biography  usually  follows  the  life  :  his  also  pre- 
ceded. The  tables  of  his  genealogy  present  an 
unbroken  line,  reaching  into  the  earliest  days. 
There  is  no  instance  in  which  this  vital  connec- 
tion with  the  past  is  more  marked  than  when  at 
the  close,  at  the  time  when  He  wished  to  give  to 
his  friends  a  clearer  conception  of  Himself,  and 
of  the  work  which  seemed  to  be  terminated  by 
his  death,  which  had  surprised  them  with  its  dis- 
appointment and  startled  their  faith,  He  turned 
their  minds  back  to  Moses  and  the  Hebrew  proph- 
ets and  the  Psalms,  that  they  might  see  that  all 
which  had  happened  to  Him  had  been  anticipated 
and  intended,  and  had  been  carefully  written 
down  long  beforehand.  We  comfort  the  friends 
whom  we  are  leaving  with  the  future.  So  did 
He,  indeed ;  but  He  encouraged  them  also  with 
the  past,  and  there  He  established  their  knowl- 
edge and  faith.  He  appealed  to  history  to  con- 
vince them  of  Himself.     He  took  their  ancestral 


132       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

hope  and  gave  it  back  to  them  alive.  To  bind 
together  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  one  of  the  best  things  which  bookmakers 
have  ever  done.  They  made  a  blunder  when 
they  put  blank  leaves  between  them.  However 
convenient  these  may  be  for  a  family  record,  the 
story  of  our  family  life,  there  is  danger  that  they 
will  interrupt  our  thought  of  the  one  life  which 
it  most  concerns  us  to  know. 

In  the  same  way  it  is  necessary  that  we  read 
forward  beyond  the  memoirs,  if  we  are  to  under- 
stand them.  What  He  had  taught  was  treasured 
in  the  minds  of  men  who  became  the  teachers 
of  others.  Their  teaching  became  another  biog- 
raphy, if  I  may  retain  that  word.  They  did  not 
invent  or  discover  truth ;  they  repeated  it,  as 
they  were  called  to  do.  One  wrote  in  this  way  : 
"  That  which  was  from  the  beginning,  which  we 
have  heard,  which  we  have  seen  with  our  eyes, 
which  we  have  looked  upon,  and  our  hands 
have  handled  of  the  Word  of  Life.  That 
which  we  have  seen  and  heard,  declare  we  unto 
you,  that  ye  also  may  have  fellowship  with  us." 
Tlic  teaching  of  another,  often  thought  of  as 
a  leader  among  the  disciples,  was  in  like  manner 
the  telling  of  the  things  which  he  had  seen 
and  heard.  In  the  second  letter  which  bears 
liis  name  he  asserts  his  authority  to  declare  the 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      133 

power  and  coming  of  the  Lord:  "  We  have  not 
followed  cunningly  devised  fables,  but  were  eye- 
witnesses of  his  majesty."  Here  is  the  memoir, 
declared  in  the  lives  of  men  who  knew  it,  who 
knew  it  so  thoroughly  and  believed  in  it  so 
utterly  that  it  made  their  life,  and  commonly 
their  death.     The  men  and  the  word  agree. 

The  Gospel,  as  we  have  come  to  call  it,  is 
not  a  matter  of  manuscripts  alone,  priceless  and 
satisfying  as  they  are.  It  is  a  matter  of  life, 
active,  intense,  devoted,  at  once  a  passion  and 
a  faith.  Then,  the  career  of  the  first  apostles 
was  written  out  by  one  who  was  with  them. 
It  is  not  a  history :  it  is  a  series  of  annals, 
the  simple  narrative  of  important  events.  It  is 
the  common  belief  that  this  man  had  written  one 
of  the  accounts  of  Christ's  life,  and  his  warrant 
for  this  was  in  the  fact  that  he  "had  perfect 
understanding  of  all  things  from  the  very  first." 
But  the  Book  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  is  the 
extension  of  the  memoir  of  Christ.  It  is  the 
story  of  men  who  had  learned  of  Him,  and  were 
now,  in  fulfilment  of  his  instructions,  teaching  the 
world.  It  is  a  declaration  of  the  facts  which  were 
afterward  written  in  the  Gospels,  and  were  then 
held  in  the  devoted  memories  of  men  who  bad 
given  their  life  to  the  work  of  teaching  them. 
But  there  is  more  than  this,  for  a    man   <■• s 


134        SON   OF  MAN  IN   EARLY  LITERATURE 

forward  who  is  to  be  chief  in  the  new  work 
for  the  world.  He  had  been  slow  to  believe 
the  new  teaching.  He  saw  the  peril  of  the 
old  Church,  in  which  survived  all  the  liberty 
which  his  people  retained.  He  resisted  stoutly 
all  the  advances  of  the  Christian  faith.  He 
persecuted  with  extreme  severity  those  who 
belonged  to  it.  At  length  this  was  all  changed. 
It  is  said  that  every  man  goes,  at  some  time 
in  his  life,  to  Damascus  —  the  place  of  the  last 
decision.  Mahomet  looked  on  its  delights  and 
sought  another  paradise.  This  man  fell  blinded 
at  its  gate  and  in  the  darkness  found  the  eternal 
light ;  and  found  himself.  He  was  drawn  to  the 
cause  he  opposed,  and  became  its  foremost  friend 
and  apostle.  The  story  is  told  more  than  once. 
But  besides  all  that  was  written,  there  is  the  man, 
a  force  in  the  world,  a  person  for  history,  with 
a  life  which  compels  attention.  He  was  taught 
the  word  and  work  of  Christ,  and  he  became  him- 
self the  teacher  of  this  truth.  Opinions  were 
exchanged  for  verities,  and  the  verities  put  in 
command  of  life.  We  have  his  letters,  practical 
letters  of  instruction,  encouragement,  reproof,  the 
expression  of  his  great  heart,  informed  by  his  great 
purpose.  He  was  stoned  and  imprisoned,  but  he 
never  faltered  in  his  understanding  of  Christ  and 
his  words  and  his  life,  nor  hesitated  to  tell  all  that 


SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      135 

he  knew,  and  he  held  himself  ready  to  die  in  this 
faith,  even  as  it  was  appointed  unto  him  to  do. 
Beaten  three  times,  stoned  once,  thrice  ship- 
wrecked, a  night  and  a  day  in  the  deep,  pursued, 
tormented,  he  kept  to  the  faith  he  found  at 
Damascus,  proving  it  in  all  its  promises,  and  set- 
ting his  influence  deeply  into  the  life  of  the  world. 
Few  men,  I  do  not  know  that  any  men,  have  con- 
trolled the  world's  religious  thought  more  than  he. 
His  memoir  is  in  the  New  Testament.  But  it  is 
also  written  with  the  thinking  of  the  centuries. 

Here  again  is  the  story  of  Christ's  life,  writ- 
ten and  unwritten,  embodied  in  the  biography  of 
a  man,  and  in  the  churches  which  he  founded  ; 
made  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  world  ;  the  lit- 
erary, political,  religious  history  of  the  world.  We 
have  the  life  of  Christ  when  we  have  the  life  of 
Paul,  and  his  addresses  and  epistles  ;  and  the  life  is 
the  same  that  is  described  by  the  men  who  saw  it. 

This  man,  strong  in  his  character,  mighty  in 
his  deeds,  stands  as  the  permanent  witness  to 
the  truth  to  which  he  gave  his  life.  He  was  a 
teacher  of  religion.  Nevertheless,  he  must  be 
understood  by  every  one  who  would  have  a  clear 
knowledge  of  the  course  of  events  in  the  world. 
Paul  must  be  recognized.  But  every  thought 
of  him  is  a  thought  of  One  concerning  whom  lie 
said,  "  I  do  not  live ;  but  He  liveth  in  me." 


136       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

But  the  life  of  Christ  does  not  stop  here.  The 
pervasive  principle  which  marked  it  was  its  con- 
tinuance. It  promised  to  remain  with  men,  to 
become  a  part  of  their  life,  blending  with  their 
thoughts,  guiding  their  conduct ;  strengthening, 
inspiring,  comforting,  without  limitation  of  time. 
Its  influence  was  of  that  kind  which  could  be  put 
to  the  proof,  whether  Christ  was  seen  or  not.  I 
wish  to  call  attention  to  a  fact  of  the  greatest 
significance.  The  religion  taught  by  Christ  we 
call  Christianity.  If  Christianity  was  ever  true, 
it  is  true  to-day.  It  can  be  seen  at  work  now, 
and  studied  with  all  care,  and  without  the 
charming  distraction  of  the  Master's  presence. 
He  claimed  the  future.  He  sent  forward  his 
influence.  The  end  of  the  world,  of  which 
He  taught,  meant  both  time  and  place.  This 
forward  looking  was  one  of  the  most  marked 
tilings  in  all  his  teaching.  "  I  am  with  you  to  the 
end  of  the  world,"  He  said.  More  than  that,  He 
commissioned  men  to  go  into  all  the  world  and 
offer  to  every  man  what  He  had  offered  in  the 
three  years  He  spent  in  Palestine.  This  was 
begun  while  his  disciples  lived,  and  has  been 
going  on  ever  since;  is  going  on  to-day  here  and 
in  every  land,  on  almost  every  island  and  patch 
of  coral  in  the  seas.  Yet  if  we  could  gather  up 
the   teaching   of   these   messengers    it   would   be 


SON  OF  MAN  IN   EARLY  LITERATURE       137 

found  in  its  essential  truths  to  be  the  same  which 
is  recorded  in  the  New  Testament.  Indeed,  we 
do  gather  it  up ;  we  know  what  they  teach ;  and  it 
is  what  they  like  to  call  "  the  old,  old  story."  It 
has  expressed  itself  in  many  tongues  and  with 
many  forms,  but  the  underlying  truths  have  been 
the  same. 

We  can  find  in  their  words  the  account  of 
Christ's  life  ;  and  more  than  that,  the  continuance 
of  his  life.  We  can  trace  the  effect  of  listening  to 
Him,  believing  in  Him,  following  his  instruction. 
A  multitude  which  cannot  be  numbered,  compris- 
ing men  distinguished  for  learning,  prudence, 
carefulness,  moderation  ;  for  skill  in  affairs  ;  for 
generalship  and  statesmanship  ;  for  high  thoughts 
and  great  achievements  ;  with  many  of  less  rank,  of 
plain  minds  and  common  lives,  give  their  witness 
to  Him. 

There  is  more  than  the  evidence  given  in  the 
lives  of  men.  The  story  of  Christ  has  self-evidenc- 
ing power.  It  gains  the  approval  of  the  reason  and 
the  heart.  Men  feel  that  it  is  true.  Paul  was 
able  to  appeal  to  this  and  write  that  by  mani- 
festation of  the  truth  he  commended  himself  to 
every  man's  conscience,  when  the  conscience  was 
in  the  presence  of  God.  I  have  no  doubt  that 
there  were  persons  in  Corinth  who  smiled  as 
they  heard  this  daring  appeal.     But  the  saints  in 


138       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

Achaia  knew  that  lie  was  right.  The  knowledge 
of  one  man  is  of  more  authority  than  the  ignorance 
of  several  men. 

Nothing  that  we  know  is  more  beautiful  than 
this  assurance.  Men  learn  to  speak  of  Christ  as 
a  present  friend.  It  does  not  occur  to  them  to 
doubt  his  word.  They  are  simple  as  children. 
When  one  remarked  on  David  Livingstone's  lone- 
liness in  Africa,  he  answered  that  he  was  not 
alone.  "Christ  said  that  he  would  be  with  me 
always.  It  is  the  word  of  a  gentleman  of  the 
strictest  honor,  and  there's  an  end  of  it."  When 
he  fell  upon  his  knees  in  an  African  hut,  and 
threw  his  arms  forward  on  the  couch  and  rested 
his  head  upon  them,  he  believed  that  the  promise 
was  kept.  The  candle  burned  low  at  his  side,  and 
his  heart  ceased  to  beat,  but  he  knew  that  he  was 
not  alone.  His  weary  body  lies  under  the  pave- 
ment in  Westminster  Abbey.  He  won  the  place. 
There  is  no  truer  shrine  among  the  monuments. 
Why  should  he  not  be  believed  when  he  speaks 
of  that  which  lie  knew  best  and  cared  for  most? 
Unbelief  may  go  a  long  way  and  be  respected; 
hut  there  is  a  limit  which  it  has  no  right  to  pass. 

I  may  add  that  in  institutions  Christianity  has 
preserved  the  record  of  itself.  The  societies, 
formed  in  the  name  of  Christ  and  around  his 
teaching  and  Himself,  are  called  churches.     I  do 


SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      139 

not  mention  this  as  information,  but  because  it  is 
sometimes  fancied  that  there  is  something  myste- 
rious about  a  church.  It  is  a  society  of  men  and 
women,  with  its  own  purpose  and  endowment, 
and  is  as  good  as  the  men  and  women  who  com- 
pose it.  It  has  the  highest  sanction,  and  quite  as 
much  authority  as  would  be  for  its  advantage. 
The  churches  made  the  New  Testament,  as  a 
book  or  a  collection  of  books,  containing  truths 
which  they  knew,  and  they  have  preserved  it. 
Their  strength  to  a  great  extent  has  been  in  their 
adherence  to  the  historical  documents  of  the  faith. 
When  their  regard  for  these  lessens,  there  is  real 
and  evident  danger  that  teaching  will  become 
mystical  and  sentimental,  and  decrees  oppressive. 
It  is  an  obvious  safeguard  to  faith  and  practice, 
that  every  man  can  read  the  charter  for  himself 
and  protect  his  own  liberty.  Of  this  independence 
there  is  no  serious  lack  in  this  neighborhood. 
We  might  have  learned  the  words  of  Christ 
from  a  society  which  transmitted  them  without 
writing.  But  we  are  more  confident  that  the 
words  are  correctly  given  to  us  when  we  have 
also    the    ancient    records. 

The  churches  have  also  taken  special  events  in 
the  history  of  Christ  and  embodied  them  in  forms 
which  have  preserved  them.  Thus  the  churches 
are  an  early  witness  to  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 


140       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

His  Resurrection  is  the  vital  fact,  without  which 
there  would  have  been  no  churches,  and  the  assur- 
ance of  this  fact  has  not  grown  less.  They  have 
Baptism,  by  which  from  the  first  his  friends  have 
been  marked  as  his  own.  Each  instance  of  this 
I  baptism  points  back  to  the  earliest.  They  have  the 
Eucharist,  which  could  never  have  been  devised 
1  >y  men,  which  has  gone  everywhere  with  his  name, 
which  his  friends  keep  in  remembrance  of  Him ; 
and  this  reaches  in  unbroken  succession  to  his  own 
guest  chamber  in  Jerusalem.  Here  are  great  truths, 
which  live  by  their  own  force,  which  are  imbedded 
in  the  cause  of  civilization,  which  owe  nothing  to 
history,  or  to  the  act  of  man,  save  for  transmis- 
sion, and  which  are  only  explained  by  seeing  them 
in  their  origin.  If  we  question  concerning  them, 
we  get  a  variety  of  explanations ;  but  we  always 
get  this,  that  they  are  the  things  to  which  Christ 
gave  being,  and  which  He  committed  to  his 
friends,  that  they  might  give  them  to  the  world. 
The  churches  themselves  in  their  existence  and 
their  meaning,  even  in  their  divine  claims,  are  a 
witness  to  Him  and  to  his  life;  and  whatever  of 
usage  they  have  added,  they  have  held  Him 
supreme,  and  have  preserved  the  knowledge  of 
his   word  and  work. 

I  wish  to  call  attention  again  to  the  surpassing 
amount  of  the  knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  which 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      141 

is  in  our  hands.  Whose  life  is  prolonged  as  his  has 
been,  and  shown  in  so  many  ways?  We  have 
incidents,  addresses,  conversations,  meditations, 
and  prayers ;  questions  and  answers ;  revelations 
of  the  heart,  of  emotions,  purposes,  desires. 
More  than  this,  let  me  repeat  that  we  have  the 
words  of  Christ  embodied  in  the  lives  of  men, 
and  in  their  institutions ;  put  to  all  conceivable 
test  in  the  heart  and  the  home ;  in  the  closet  and 
on  the  house-top.  We  can  see  Christianity  in 
action.  The  testing  is  severe.  If  it  cannot 
make  itself  known  and  approved  in  this  way, 
there  is  small  encouragement  in  resorting  to  any 
other.  But  who  besides  Christ  has  made  men  of 
many  centuries  live  around  his  teaching,  more 
than  content  to  have  it  the  soul  and  passion  of 
their  years  ?  I  think  that  no  one  has  ever  lived, 
even  of  the  men  of  our  own  time,  of  whom  we 
can  have  this  interior  knowledge,  till  not  even  the 
beating  of  the  heart  is  concealed  from  us. 

Think  again  who  He  was  at  his  birth  and  what 
the  chances  were  that  He  would  ever  be  known 
beyond  the  neighborhood  of  Nazareth,  and  say  if 
there  be  not  in  this  unexampled,  unapproached 
career  a  purpose  which  intelligence  must  appre- 
hend. 

Thus  far,  for  the  most  part,  we  have  gone  about 
the  life  of  Christ.     Let  me  ask  you  now  to  look 


142       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

within  it,  to  the  end  that  we  may  know  Him  more 
fully  and  accurately.  The  times  were  ready  for 
his  coining.  The  world  was  at  peace.  The 
nations  which  were  consolidated  into  the  empire 
offered  a  fine  opportunity  to  Him  and  to  the  work 
which  He  was  to  do.  Men  were  tired  of  the 
religions  which  were  unequal  to  the  demands 
fairly  made  upon  them.  The  religion  of  Judea 
had  reached  the  point  where  it  could  pass  into 
larger  truth.  The  period  has  been  well  named 
"  The  fulness  of  time." 

The  place  was  suitable.  Palestine  was  small 
and  of  slight  influence.  While  central  among 
the  nations,  it  was  isolated  by  its  position,  and  by 
the  traditions  and  the  temper  of  its  people.  But 
noted  cities  had  been  upon  its  coast,  and  there 
men  famous  in  commerce  and  the  arts  had  their 
homes.  It  had  been  rich  in  strong  men  and  great 
events.  The  land  even  now  illustrates  the  New 
Testament,  in  mountains  and  seas,  in  customs 
and  habits,  in  food  and  dress,  in  ploughs  and 
boats,  in  the  events  of  nature.  It  had  felt  the  in- 
fluence of  other  countries,  at  whose  hands  it  had 
Buffered,  whose  armies  had  traversed  its  roads  on 
their  way  to  conquest  and  defeat.  It  knew  the 
world,  for  the  world  had  touched  it  on  every  side. 
h  was  a  persistent,  stubborn  country,  which  could 
be  cast  down,  but  not  destroyed.     Its  people  could 


SON   OF  MAN  IN   EARLY  LITERATURE      143 

be  killed,  but  not  conquered.  It  considered  its 
own  history  religious  and  looked  proudly  through 
its  misfortunes  to  its  glory.  Its  religion  kept  it 
apart  from  its  neighbors.  It  worshipped  one  God, 
who  shared  his  authority  with  no  divinities,  to 
whom  no  image  could  be  erected,  whose  altar  no 
graving  tools  could  touch,  whose  statutes  remain 
until  this  day  the  expression  of  the  duty  of  man. 
It  had  a  grand  array  of  prophets,  men  who  stood 
for  Jehovah.  Its  Scriptures  are  our  own  religious 
books,  which  is  a  testimony  to  their  universal 
character.  We  sing  their  songs,  and  find  no  better 
words  of  praise ;  we  treasure  the  comfort  in  their 
promises,  and  breathe  out  our  penitence  in  their 
Miserere.  No  other  land  could  have  given  such 
words,  over  which  the  centuries  have  no  power. 
Think  for  a  moment  what  advantage  the  literature 
of  Greece  and  Rome  had  over  that  of  Palestine ! 
In  their  character,  in  the  position  of  their  people, 
in  the  men  who  were  interested  in  them,  the 
books  of  either  land  stood  a  thousand  times  the 
chance  of  being  the  chief  books  in  Britain,  Ger- 
many, America.  We  do  indeed  read  and  admire 
the  literature  we  call  classic,  and  shall  continue  to 
do  so,  yet  only  the  few  know  anything  of  it.  The 
one  book  of  poor,  isolated  Palestine  is  the  book 
of  the  civilized  world,  the  book  of  church  and 
home  and  college   and   school.     How  this  came 


144       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

about  is  a  question  of  interest  to  scholars.  It  has 
even  been  said,  perhaps  not  with  strict  accuracy, 
that  if  the  Bible  should  be  lost,  it  could  be  recon- 
structed out  of  the  other  books  into  which  by 
portions  it  has  been  copied.  One  thing  is  certain, 
a  few  pages  in  the  second  part  have  carried  all 
the  rest  into  the  history  and  experience  of  the 
world.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  whatever  estimate 
we  may  put  upon  the  New  Testament,  the  princi- 
ples of  our  religion,  the  great  truths  which  we 
cherish,  are  from  Palestine.  All  this  has  come  to 
us,  not  because  of  Moses  and  the  Prophets,  of 
David  and  the  other  Psalmists,  but  by  reason  of 
that  Child  whose  birth  Ave  register  every  day. 
He  explains  history,  and  history  in  its  turn  and 
in  its  measure  explains  Him. 

It  was  the  breaking  of  a  long  silence  when 
there  appeared  in  the  wilderness  of  Judea  a  man 
clothed  in  camel's  hair  bound  about  him  by  a 
leathern  girdle  ;  who  called  men  to  repentance, 
declaring  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  at 
hand,  and  that  One  was  coming,  the  latchet  of 
whose  shoes  he  should  not  be  worthy  to  unloose; 
who  should  baptize  with  the  spirit  of  God.  He 
was  the  Voice.  Thus  he  called  himself,  taking 
his  name,  not  from  genealogies  which  abounded 
in  Johns,  and  could  have  given  him  nothing,  but 
from  his  calling,  wherein  at  that  time  he  stood 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      145 

alone.  Such  voices  had  not  been  strange  in 
Israel.  The  utterances  of  other  clays  we  are  yet 
studying.  This  Voice  had  itself  been  foretold,  so 
great  was  his  significance.  It  was  the  voice  of  a 
prophet  which  was  again  heard  in  the  world.  It 
moved  men.  Strong,  severe,  commanding,  it 
compelled  them  to  listen.  They  gathered  around 
the  Voice  and  waited  upon  his  will,  which  lacked 
nothing  of  daring  and  directness.  His  words 
were  his  own.  Echoes  are  interesting,  but  not 
instructive.  Such  a  Voice  was  needed,  and  it 
came  at  the  right  time.  It  prepared  the  way  for 
the  One  who  was  to  follow.  He  preached  a  new 
life  in  a  new  name,  and  called  men  from  their  old 
ways  into  the  ways  of  *God.  He  drew  some  men 
closely  to  himself,  and  into  a  jealous  friendship, 
and  he  did  not  conceal  the  fact  that  he  was  to  be 
supplanted.  To  all  questioning  he  gave  the  same 
answer,  There  is  One  coming.  At  length  He 
came.  It  was  as  it  had  been  said.  The  former 
decreased,  to  find  his  greater  renown  in  allegiance 
to  another  who  increased. 

I  only  touch  the  years  here  and  there,  and  let 
the  mind  move  over  them.  Of  the  birth  of  the 
Child  we  have  already  thought.  His  home  was 
at  the  North.  The  house  of  Mary  has  been  re- 
moved. This  is  evident.  But  we  mark  the  line 
between  legend  and   history   when   we   are   told 


146       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

that  it  was  taken  up  by  angels  and  carried  to  the 
height  of  Dalmatia  and  afterward  across  the  sea 
to  Recanati,  in  Italy,  and  at  last  to  the  hill  of 
Loretto,  where  it  is  visited  by  pilgrims  to  this 
day.  It  is  said  to  be  "the  most  frequented 
sanctuary  of  Christendom."'  Compare  this  with 
the  memoirs  in  which  there  is  not  an  eccentric 
line.  The  home  was  in  the  right  place.  Galilee 
was  an  attractive  province,  with  its  lakes  and 
hills,  its  cities  and  towns,  its  vigorous  people, 
"  healthy  as  their  own  climate  and  cheerful  as 
their  own  sky,"  and  far  enough  removed  from 
Jerusalem  for  the  growth  of  strong  and  independ- 
ent character;  rugged,  perhaps,  but  free.  In  a 
village  of  Galilee  He  grew  up.  It  is  a  fair  and 
flourishing  village  now.  Bethlehem  and  Naza- 
reth keep  their  place,  while  other  towns  have 
been  lost,  as  Cana  and  Capernaum.  Nazareth 
feels  the  modern  life,  and  the  tall  chimney  of  a 
factory  rises  above  its  white  houses,  which  are 
long  seen  as  one  rides  across  Esdraelon.  There 
was  to  be  no  haste,  and  his  life  was  as  the  life  of 
other  boys;  or  if  it  were  different,  we  have  not 
been  told.  No  romance  hovers  around  those  years. 
Sonic  Legends  have  been  made,  but  with  legends 
we  have  nothing  to  do,  and  it  is  easy  to  know 
them.  We  cannot  en-  in  thinking  of  the  home 
as  sacredly  pleasant  and  helpful,  and  of  the  child- 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE       147 

hood  as  beautiful  in  its  purity  and  promise.  We 
have  allusions  to  games  He  may  have  played 
with  other  boys  —  the  wedding  and  the  funeral. 
Two  lists  of  genealogy  trace  his  descent,  the  one 
from  Abraham,  and  the  other  reaching  to  Adam 
and  thence  to  God.  Great  names  are  in  the  cata- 
logues, and  in  these  the  boy  was  instructed  at 
home  and  in  the  village  school.  Teaching  and 
learning  were  not  broad  in  Galilee,  but  they 
included  strong  characters  and  large  events. 
When  we  limit  our  estimate  to  the  things  which 
a  man  must  know,  the  education  of  that  people 
is  not  to  be  lightly  esteemed.  They  knew  the 
better  half  of  science  —  that  God  made  all  things. 
The  best  truth  of  Astronomy  they  perceived  — 
that  the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God.  They 
held  in  their  own  literature  a  more  accurate  view 
of  the  world  and  its  surroundings  than  was  else- 
where to  be  found.  They  had  the  only  account 
of  the  creation  which  was  scientifically  correct. 
Of  Psychology  they  knew  nothing,  under  that 
name  ;  but  they  understood  men.  Sociology  was 
well  ordered,  and  was  generous  and  humane.  It 
had  the  highest  authority.  There  is  very  little 
in  the  social  science  of  our  day  which  was  not 
recognized  in  the  rules  of  the  Hebrew  life.  There 
was  not  very  much  history,  hut  the  principles 
which  history  describes  and  illustrates  were  already 


148       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

apprehended.  Their  wisdom  is  profitable  to  us, 
and  their  poetry  has  not  been  surpassed.  There 
was  for  this  boy  a  special  charm  in  the  literature 
which  was  within  his  reach,  because  so  much  of 
it  related  to  his  own  kindred  and  the  family 
annals.  Imagine  his  delight  at  the  story  of 
Joseph,  which  has  no  rival  to  this  day;  and  of 
David,  shepherd  boy  and  king.  How  quickly  he 
learned  the  Twenty-third  Psalm,  which  He  was 
told  his  shepherd  grandfather  had  written  !  Then 
the  matchless  idyl  of  Ruth,  the  girl  of  Moab, 
whose  fidelity  gave  her  place  in  Israel  and  raised 
her  to  renown,  —  and  Ruth  was  his  grandmother. 
This  and  many  things  besides,  the  neglected  Tables 
tell  us. 

It  was  with  a  mind  Avell  stored,  and  a  heart 
enriched,  and  curiosity  and  imagination  alert, 
that  when  He  was  twelve  years  old  —  and  twelve 
was  old  then  as  it  is  now — He  found  his  long 
dream  fulfilled  and  was  in  Jerusalem,  the  city  of 
the  great  King.  He  saw  the  Temple.  He  knew 
what  it  was,  and  that  is  rare  knowledge  for  any 
age.  He  stayed  behind  the  company  to  which 
He  belonged,  and  was  found  among  the  revered 
teachers  of  his  people;  questioning  them,  as  his 
right  was,  and  answering  their  questions.  He 
surprised  them,  whether  He  asked  or  answered. 
I  !<•  w;is  the   Teacher.     He  knew  what  they  had 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      149 

not  learned.  The  familiar  painting  is  correct  in 
this,  that  the  light  is  upon  Him,  and  from  Him 
shines  upon  the  heavy  faces  which  bend  toward 
Him.  All  that  heard  Him  were  amazed.  He 
was  not.  Disappointed  He  was,  I  think,  that 
among  all  the  Doctors  no  one  could  tell  Him 
what  He  wanted  so  much  to  know,  and  explain 
what  He  had  been  thinking  in  the  fields  around 
Nazareth.  I  suppose  no  one  thought  of  it  that 
day ;  but  as  we  now  see  Him  standing  there, 
and  look  into  his  eyes,  and  mark  the  delicacy 
of  his  mien  and  the  fineness  of  his  thought, 
it  is  quite  certain  that  painful  years  are  before 
Him,  that  the  world  will  give  Him  no  sympathy, 
will  not  hear  his  word,  will  not  receive  his 
light,  and  will  try  at  last  to  silence  his  voice.  I 
know  that  I  am  reading  later  events  into  the 
story,  but  I  have  the  right  to  do  this.  Indeed, 
one  can  hardly  help  doing  it.  I  do  not  know 
why  the  good  physician  who  has  given  all  we 
have  of  this  incident  in  the  life  of  the  boy  did 
not  tell  us  more.  Perhaps  he  wrote  all  that  he 
knew.  It  is  best  as  it  is.  We  have  the  few 
sentences,  and  can  think  the  rest.  There  are 
tenderness  and  sadness  and  promise  in  the  closing 
words.  When  the  Child  was  found  by  Ins  sorrow- 
ing father  and  mother,  He  said,  "  How  is  it  that 
ye  sought  me  ?     Did  ye  not  know  that  I  must  be 


150       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

iii  my  Father's  house?"  It  was  a  new  name  for 
the  Temple,  and  a  new  name  for  Him.  It  was  an 
appropriation  of  the  name  "Father"  which  had 
not  before  been  made.  To  Him  it  had  profound 
meaning,  and  its  truth  took  precedence  of  all 
other  relationship.  It  was  right,  even  dutiful, 
that  He  should  remain  at  home  while  Mary  and 
Joseph  returned  to  Nazareth.  In  his  own  time 
He  would  go  to  them.  "  And  they  understood 
not  the  saying  which  He  spake  unto  them.  And 
He  went  down  with  them,  and  came  to  Nazareth , 
and  He  was  subject  unto  them;  and  his  mother 
kept  all  these  sayings  in  her  heart.  And  Jesus 
advanced  in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favor 
with  God  and  men." 

Then  followed  eighteen  years,  of  which  we  have 
no  fuller  record  than  has  just  been  given.  No 
mystery  comes  out  of  those  years,  no  sign  of 
power,  no  presage  of  greatness,  no  intimation  that 
He  will  ever  come  to  the  place  He  holds  to-day. 
Il»'  was  afterward  called  the  Carpenter's  Son  and 
the  Carpenter;  it  is  probable  that  the  name  was 
truly  spoken,  and  that  He  had  learned  that 
honorable  trade,  in  which  He  would  be  useful. 
There  can  be  no  question  that  his  work  was  well 
done  and  according  to  his  promise.  We  can 
almost  fancy  that  the  willing  wood  yielded  itself 
gracefully   to   his    gentle    hand.      Why   is    there 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      151 

nowhere  in  the  memoirs  a  hint  of  this  ?  Be- 
cause it  never  was  so,  and  honest  men  were  the 
writers. 

We  think  of  him  as  quiet,  kind,  obedient,  fond 
of  flowers  and  birds  ;  familiar  with  nature  ; 

Knowing  that  Nature  never  did  betray 
The  heart  that  loved  her. 

He  was  thoughtful,  spiritual,  —  now  we  should 
call  him  dreamy  and  imaginative.  His  mind  and 
heart  were  open  to  the  spirit  of  grace  and  truth. 
He  thought  most,  as  afterward  He  taught  most, 
out-of-doors. 

Thus  He  came  to  be  about  thirty  years  of  age. 
Doctor  Luke  does  not  give  the  age  with  exact- 
ness. Then  He  began  to  teach.  He  took  leave 
of  his  home,  and  of  his  peaceful  days,  and,  with 
his  heart  full  of  great  desire,  went  down  to  the 
Jordan,  where  the  new  and  strange  prophet  was 
baptizing.  There  He  found,  among  the  friends 
of  his  forerunner,  his  first  disciples.  He  was 
Himself  baptized,  thus  coming  under  the  law  of 
the  kingdom  which  was  coming  into  the  world. 
Out  from  his  long  solitude  He  passed  quiet  lv 
into  the  three  long  years  which  were  to  complete 
his  life.  Let  me  take  a  few  events  in  their  order. 
that  we  maybe  reminded  how  simple  his  life  was, 
and  how  singular,  without  precedent,  and  never 


[52       SON  OF  MAN   IN   EARLY  LITERATURE 

to  be  repeated.  Let  us  mark  how  admirably 
his  Life  and  Himself  were  adjusted,  each  to  the 
other.  In  giving  a  title  to  this  chapter  I  have 
used  the  term  "  Son  of  Man."  This  name  was 
peculiarly  his  own.  It  was  made  prominent  by 
Himself,  when  He  was  here,  but  no  one  else  em- 
ployed it  to  describe  Him.  It  had  a  Messianic 
reference.  But  I  am  concerned  with  it  now 
because  it  expresses  his  position  so  clearly.  It 
is  impressive  to  mark  his  pains  to  emphasize  this 
relationship  to  men.  It  seems  as  if  He  was  so 
conscious  He  was  the  Son  of  God  that  He  feared 
men  would  not  see  that  He  also  belonged  to  them. 
That  they  would  be  impressed  by  his  divine  life, 
and  not  regard  his  human  condition  and  experi- 
ence. I  am  the  Child  of  Man,  He  says ;  not  of 
a  man,  but  of  mankind.  I  am  the  Son,  not  a 
Son,  the  Son,  standing  by  nryself.  The  Child  of 
the  race  ;  The  Man,  the  true  man.  Thus  He  con- 
tin  uallv  identified  Himself  with  men,  intending  in 
this  way  to  bless  mankind.  It  was  only  a  few 
days  after  his  baptism,  and  when  He  was  full  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  that  He  was  "led  by  the  Spirit 
m  the  wilderness  during  forty  days,  being  tempted 
by  the  devil."  Who  shall  venture  rudely  into 
those  strange  weeks  !  Two  accounts  are  given  of 
them,  and  one  which  is  very  brief  in  addition. 
The  impressive  point  is  that  He  knew  Himself 


SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      153 

and  the  work  which  He  was  to  do.  The  tempta- 
tion was  in  the  line  with  his  work.  It  was  in- 
telligent, and  was  directed  against  the  purpose 
which  ruled  Him  and  the  way  of  its  accomplish- 
ment. The  temptation  was  the  disclosure  of  his 
plan.  We  see  what  thoughts  were  in  his  mind 
and  what  purposes  engaged  Him.  He  felt  his 
power.  He  knew  that  the  kingdoms  of  the  world 
were  to  be  his.  Otherwise  the  temptation  which 
related  to  these  would  have  had  no  meaning. 
Why  should  it  have  been  suggested  that  there 
was  an  easy  way  to  authority  if  He  was  not  seek- 
ing authority,  and  bent  upon  taking  the  way  that 
was  hard,  but  which  must  be  trodden  if  his  life  was 
to  be  fulfilled  ?  As  history  can  be  traced  in  laws, 
so  desire  and  purpose  can  be  found  in  this  proof 
of  his  constancy.  One  point  of  contrast  should 
be  noticed  here.  In  describing  the  work  of  the 
Son  of  Man,  St.  Paul  gave  him  a  name  not  before 
spoken,  but  of  large  significance.  He  called  Him 
Adam,  the  last  Adam ;  meaning  that  He  also 
stood  at  the  head  of  a  race.  Let  us  notice  here 
that  under  temptation  the  second  Adam,  unlike 
the  first,  kept  Himself  down  and  adhered  to  the 
will  of  God ;  kept  his  integrity  ;  held  to  the  work 
and  the  way  for  which  He  had  been  given  to  the 
world.  Compare  the  trifling  in  Eden  with  these 
words  in  the  wilderness,   words   of   loyalty    and 


154       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

victory:  "Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God, 
and  Him  only  shalt  thou  serve." 

Pass  on  a  few  days.  There  was  a  wedding  in 
(ana.  and  his  disciples  were  there  with  Him. 
Perhaps  it  was  their  coming  which  brought  dis- 
may to  the  house,  for  it  was  found  that  the  wine 
had  failed.  Though  He  was  a  guest,  He  came  to 
the  relief  of  the  household  and  provided  wine. 
Thus  He  saved  the  wedding  feast  from  lasting 
discredit.  It  was  his  blessing  on  the  bride.  He 
was  a  Man,  the  Son  of  Man,  rich  in  gentlest  sym- 
pathies, courteous  and  kind.  The  story  is  told  as 
simply  as  if  He  had  brought  the  wine  from  the 
neighboring  vineyard.  It  is  told  only  by  that 
one  of  his  biographers  who  wrote  most  fully  of 
the  spirit  of  Christ,  of  his  deeper  thought  and 
word.  This  was  the  beginning  of  his  signs,  some- 
times called  miracles.  There  is  no  mark  of 
wonder.  "  He  manifested  his  glory,  and  his  dis- 
ciples believed  on  Him."  As  they  were  on  the 
spot,  they  had  the  opportunity  to  know  what  was 
done.  Luke  does  not  give  this  incident,  for  he 
was  not  a  disciple,  nor  was  Mark,  and  Matthew 
had  not  then  been  called.  They  could  have  told 
it  from  the  report  of  others,  but  the}r  did  not.  It 
was  overshadowed  in  their  minds  by  greater 
events.  It  was  left  for  the  only  annalist  who  was 
an  eye-witness  to  describe  what  he  had  seen.     He 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE       155 

wrote  like  an  old  man,  remembering  small  things, 
the  number  of  the  waterpots,  and  their  capacity. 

A  little  later  He  drove  the  traders  and  money- 
changers from  the  Temple,  which  again  He  called 
"  My  Father's  house."  Another  could  have 
cleansed  the  sacred  courts.  It  was  a  patriot's 
right.  Yet  it  was  remarkable  that  this  young 
Galilean  should  take  upon  Himself  such  author- 
ity in  Jerusalem.  Only  John  describes  this.  I 
suppose  that  he  was  there,  and  remembered  the 
scourge  of  cords  and  the  sheep  and  doves.  When 
there  was  a  similar  act  three  years  later,  Matthew, 
Mark,  and  Luke  write  of  it,  but  John  is  silent. 
He  had  told  his  story.  It  was  at  the  first  cleans- 
ing that  the  words  were  spoken  which  long  after- 
ward were  called  to  mind  :  "  Destroy  this  temple, 
and  in  three  days  I  will  raise  it  up."  John  under- 
stood Him  to  speak  of  "  the  temple  of  his  body." 

He  was  in  Jerusalem,  and  was  winning  the 
belief  of  many  by  his  signs,  when  at  night  a  man 
of  prominence  and  of  wealth,  a  teacher  and  ruler, 
came  to  Him  to  inquire  concerning  the  kingdom 
of  heaven.  Why  did  the  ruler  come  to  Him,  a 
carpenter?  It  was  a  nattering  attention,  and 
would  be  made  the  most  of  by  one  who  wished  to 
be  approved  that  He  might  gain  the  people.  It 
was  of  little  use  to  converse  upon  the  ways  of  God 
until  the  man's  heart  had  entered  them.     He  had 


156       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

to  tell  him  that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  not 
to  be  reached  by  the  road  on  which  he  was  trav- 
elling.    He  was  kind,  but  decided. 

Quietly  and  with  skill  the  ruler's  inquiry  was 
met  and  his  mind  diverted :  "  Verily,  verily,  I  say 
unto  thee,  except  a  man  be  born  anew,  he  cannot 
see  the  kingdom  of  God."  It  must  be  entered 
by  life,  a  new  life.  Three  years  afterward  this 
Jewish  ruler  came  again  to  Christ,  who  had  been 
crucified,  and  brought  a  hundred  pound  weight 
of  myrrh  and  aloes  for  his  embalming.  Only  St. 
John  mentions  this,  as  he  only  told  of  the  former 
coming.  But  see  what  a  place  the  young  Naza- 
rene  was  taking,  what  words  He  was  speaking,  in 
all  simplicity,  but  with  strange  authority  and  im- 
pressiveness ! 

A  few  days  after  the  night  with  Nicodemus 
He  was  in  Samaria,  passing  through,  as  the  Jews 
were  not  accustomed  to  do,  and  wearied  at  noon 
He  rested  at  the  well  which  one  of  his  ancestors 
had  dug,  and  which  still  bore  his  name,  as  it  does 
to  this  day.  A  woman  of  the  country  came  to 
draw  water.  He  asked  her  to  give  Him  to  drink, 
for  she  could  draw  from  the  deep  well.  She 
jested  with  Him,  and  soon,  as  if  He  had  made  no 
request,  she  heard  such  words  as  she  had  never 
listened  to  before.  Forget  how  familiar  they  are 
and  hear  them  for  the  first  time,  with  Ebal  and 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      157 

Gerizim  towering  over  you,  and  the  quiet  of  a 
Syrian  noon  brooding  upon  the  plain.  "Every 
one  that  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst  again ; 
but  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I 
shall  give  him  shall  become  in  him  a  well  of  water 
springing  up  unto  eternal  life."  Soon  the  well 
and  the  water  had  passed  from  their  thought. 
She  had  drawn  Him  away,  and  He  said,  "  God  is 
a  Spirit ;  and  they  that  worship  Him  must  wor- 
ship in  spirit  and  truth."  "  I  know  that  Messiah 
cometh,"  she  answered :  "  When  He  is  come,  He 
will  declare  unto  us  all  things."  "  I  that  speak 
unto  thee  am  He."  She  left  her  water-jar  beside 
the  well.  Her  errand  was  forgotten.  A  few 
drops  of  the  true  water  had  reached  her  lips.  She 
hastened  back  to  the  town  and  bade  the  men  she 
met  come  and  see  Him.  They  came  and  begged 
Him  to  remain  with  them,  and  He  did.  This 
was  at  the  beginning  of  his  three  years  of  min- 
istry. In  these  instances  see  his  consciousness  of 
Himself,  his  perfect  confidence,  his  clear  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth  He  was  to  teach,  the  work  He 
was  to  do  ;  and  of  the  final  result  in  the  accom- 
plishment of  his  purpose.  He  was  constant, 
determined.  He  knew  Himself,  and  understood 
the  life  He  was  to  live. 

I    cannot  follow  the    incidents  farther  in  this 


158       SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

uianner.  Yet  they  need  to  be  read  together,  that 
we  may  feel  their  unity,  the  one  purpose  which 
they  disclose,  the  steady  movement  of  the  desire 
which  nothing  can  interrupt.  It  is  a  stream  of  in- 
tention flowing  to  the  sea,  widening  and  deepening 
as  it  runs.  Let  me  name  a  few  points,  still  tak- 
ing them  in  their  order.  In  Sychar  He  said  :  "  My 
meat  is  to  do  the  will  of  Him  that  sent  me,  and 
to  accomplish  his  work."  At  Nazareth  He  went 
into  the  synagogue,  where  He  had  listened  from 
his  boyhood,  and  when  He  had  read  from  the 
scroll  of  Isaiah  of  One  who  was  to  come,  who 
should  do  for  the  world  what  no  one  was  do- 
ing or  could  do,  because  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord 
should  be  upon  Him,  He  said:  "  To-day  hath  this 
Scripture  been  fulfilled  in  your  ears."  His  old 
neighbors,  his  mother's  friends,  all  bare  Him  wit- 
ness, and  wondered  at  the  gracious  words  which 
proceeded  out  of  his  mouth.  He  moved  on, 
teaching,  and  giving  signs  of  Himself,  —  thus 
it  is  written,  —  giving  sight  to  the  blind  and 
strength  to  the  lame,  quieting  the  storm,  filling 
the  net,  calling  back  into  the  world  those  who 
liiid  left  it.  Even  more  remarkable  were  his 
declarations  concerning  Himself.  Such  words 
had  never  been  spoken,  and  have  not  been  spoken 
since  his  lips  were  closed.  We  have  heard  them 
so  often  that  we  cannot  see  how  wonderful  they 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE      159 

are.  Others  have  wrought  miracles,  but  no  other 
has  ever  asserted  such  greatness  of  being  and 
authority.  "  I  am  the  Truth."  "  I  am  the  Life." 
"  I  am  the  Resurrection."  "  I  give  unto  men  eter- 
nal life."  Eternal  life  is  to  know  the  Father  and 
Me  —  this  He  taught  in  his  prayer.  Hence  He 
called  men  to  Himself.  Only  by  having  Him  could 
they  have  his  real  gifts.  "  Come  unto  Me,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  "  Because  I  live,  ye  shall 
live."  "He  that f olloweth  Me  shall  have  the  light 
of  life." 

Notice  in  what  strong  and  varied  and  unprec- 
edented terms  He  declared  his  mission  to  the 
world.  It  was  to  give  life.  What  life?  The 
Divine  life  —  there  was  but  one,  that  which  was 
given  in  the  beginning ;  life  with  its  Divine  virtue 
in  it. 

This  consciousness  of  Himself,  this  Personal- 
ity, is  most  manifest  at  the  end.  Before  this,  and 
as  if  He  recalled  the  family  Psalm,  He  named 
Himself  the  Good  Shepherd,  and  added  new 
words  to  the  name  :  "  The  Good  Shepherd  giveth 
his  life  for  the  sheep."  From  any  one  else  this 
would  have  been  prophecy:  with  Him  it  was 
intention.  He  did  not  speak  often  of  his  dying, 
but  it  was  always  in  his  mind.  His  friends  were 
not  able  to  hear  much  concerning  it,  and  it  was 
not  in  their  thought  as  it  was  in  his.     Once   lie 


160       SON   OF  MAN   IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

spoke  of  the  serpent  that  was  lifted  up  in  the 
wilderness,  and  applied  the  words  to  Himself. 
They  did  not  then  know  all  that  He  meant. 

He  told  his  disciples  that  He  must  go  unto 
Jerusalem  and  be  rejected  and  killed.  He  was 
transfigured,  his  face  and  his  raiment  glistened, 
and  Moses  and  Elias  appeared  and  talked  with 
Him  of  his  decease  which  He  was  about  to 
accomplish  at  Jerusalem.  He  charged  the  three 
friends  who  were  with  Him  to  say  nothing  of 
this  until  He  was  risen  from  the  dead.  On 
another  day  He  took  his  twelve  disciples  apart 
as  they  were  on  their  way  to  Jerusalem,  and  told 
them  that  He  should  be  crucified,  and  on  the 
third  day  would  rise  again.  He  made  this  into 
a  sacrament  of  remembrance,  and  broke  bread  and 
poured  wine  into  the  cup,  as  his  body  was  to  be 
broken  and  his  blood  was  to  be  shed.  That 
night  He  Avas  betrayed,  and  the  next  day  — 

There  is  a  green  hill  far  away, 

Without  the  city  wall, 

Where  the  dear  Lord  was  crucified. 

This  was  surprising  to  his  friends.  They  had 
seen  his  power  and  were  not  prepared  for  his 
>ul .mission.  They  knew  that  every  road  out  of 
Palestine  was  open  to  Him,  and  they  saw  Him 
move  steadily  to  the  only  dangerous  place  in  the 
world.     They  thought  that  He  was  to  restore  the 


SON   OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE       161 

kingdom  to  Israel,  and  erect  the  throne  of  David; 
and  they  saw  Him  consent  to  the  cross.  They 
did  not  conceal  their  disappointment,  and  had  to 
learn  when  all  was  over  that  He  had  done  as  it 
had  been  written  of  Him.  Only  a  day  or  two 
before  the  end  He  said  in  the  most  impressive 
tone,  "  And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth, 
will  draw  all  men  unto  Myself." 

It  was  a  sublime  confidence.  There  was  a  new 
view  of  death.  It  had  been  looked  upon  as  the 
defeat  of  hope,  the  setting  aside  of  plans,  the 
breaking  of  life.  To  Him  it  was  the  fulfilment 
of  hope,  the  advancing  of  plans,  the  expanding 
of  life.  Where  men  looked  for  nothing  He  saw 
everything.  He  kept  his  assurance  to  the  last. 
Even  on  the  cross  He  drew  one  man  to  Himself. 
He  died  as  He  had  lived,  calm,  resolved,  faithful, 
committing  his  spirit  to  the  Father  whose  will 
had  formed  his  life. 

I  have  given  to  this  much  thought  for  many 
years.  I  do  not  know  it  well.  The  facts  are 
plain,  but  there  is  over  them  a  thin  veil  which 
has  never  been  lifted.  I  cannot  clearly  explain 
all  these  things.  I  am  not  surprised  nor  grieved 
at  this.  Should  we  be  able  to  enter  into  the 
deepest  counsels  of  Divine  Love  ?  The  Love  it- 
self passeth  knowledge,  we  are  told,  and  we  hold 
it  true.    Should  it  not  be  so  in  its  deepest  works? 


L62       SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

Explanations  are  not  wanting.  But  he  cannot 
have  thought  deeply  who  is  content  with  them. 
It  is  a  place  for  stillness  and  reverence.  The 
blessing  is  readily  taken.  The  full  reason  we 
must  leave  with  God.  We  know  in  part.  Let 
as  be  glad  that  all  we  know  and  think  and  trust 
is  but  a  part.  I  mark  this,  the  special,  profound 
meaning  of  his  death,  in  many  ways  asserted. 
He  had  suffered  before.  No  man  can  know  the 
burden  of  the  years  of  sacrifice.  His  soul  was 
exceeding  sorrowful,  even  unto  death,  before  the 
cross  was  reached.  But  not  in  this  was  He  to 
give  his  life  for  his  sheep,  save  as  this  was  the 
inseparable  prelude  to  the  end  on  Calvary.  I  am 
glad  for  my  own  sake  that  I  do  not  understand 
this.  I  am  glad  for  the  sake  of  others  that  I  do 
not  think  I  understand  it.  We  can,  at  least,  be 
sure  that  He  was  crucified,  even  as  He  said,  and 
that  He  rose  from  the  dead,  and  ascended  from 
the  sight  of  men. 

I  have  tried  to  present  in  a  few  lines  the  life  of 
Christ  as  it  is  seen  in  his  biographies.  I  have 
yet  to  speak  of  the  life  within  this,  and  of  its 
manifestation  in  word  and  deed.  I  do  not  need 
!"  repeal  thai  in  Him  we  have  the  divine  way  of 
accomplishing  the  Creator's  purposes  regarding 
men;  of  giving  life,  a  new  life,  to  the  world.  At 
least,  that  is  my  contention.     Whatever  else  He 


SON  OF  MAN  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE       163 

does  for  us,  He  has  done  this.  Whatever  other 
forces  work  for  this  end,  this  is  the  appointed 
power  whereby  we  are  to  be  raised  to  ourselves 
and  our  true  destiny.  Man  is  to  have  a  new  gift 
of  life,  in  which  all  he  has  learned  will  have  its 
place ;  his  affections,  his  virtues,  his  accomplish- 
ments, his  earnings,  all  that  is  good.  We  have 
gone  far  enough  to  see  the  grandeur  of  this  Divine 
presence  ;  the  greatness  of  its  Personality  ;  the 
unprecedented  claims  and  proffers  which  attend 
it;  the  unfaltering  purpose  which  rules  it,  con- 
sents to  death  and  conquers  it ;  and  all  that  it 
may  glorify  God  upon  the  earth,  and  finish  the 
work  He  has  given  it  to  do. 


IV 

THE    PURPOSE    AND    METHOD    OF    CHRIST 


THE     PURPOSE     AND     METHOD     OF 
CHRIST 


It  is  in  Jesus  Christ  that  the  Creator  has  given 
to  the  world  a  new  and  personal  force  for  its  re- 
coveiy ;  that  man  may  regain  himself  and  secure 
the  life  of  honor  and  strength  for  which  he  was 
designed.  In  studying  this  Divine  purpose  it  has 
seemed  best  to  dwell  upon  the  life  of  Christ  and 
that  which  it  contained  ;  to  the  end  that  Ave  may 
be  impressed  with  its  eminent  fitness  for  the  mis- 
sion to  which  it  was  appointed.  I  have  already 
presented  his  life  in  some  of  its  incidents  and 
relations,  and  I  desire  now  to  enter  it  more 
deeply.  He  desired  to  have  this  revealed  to  men  ; 
that  even  his  heart  should  be  open  before  them. 
His  nature  was  disclosed  in  acts.  The  Word 
unveiled  Himself  in  words ;  in  thoughts,  too ; 
intentions,  emotions,  which  He  would  not  con- 
ceal. Even  his  prayer  at  the  foot  of  his  cross 
was  heard  of  men ;  his  cry  in  the  agony  of 
Gethsemane  ;  his  thought  and  feeling  in  his 
crucifixion.     All    that   his    friends  could  receive 


168        PURPOSE  AND   METHOD    OF  CHRIST 

He  gave  to  them,  and  as  He  went  away  He 
promised  even  more  knowledge  of  Himself,  and 
this  they  have  given  to  us. 

And  so  the  Word  had  breath,  and  wrought 

With  human  hands  the  creed  of  creeds 
In  loveliness  of  perfect  deeds, 

More  strong  than  all  poetic  thought  ; 
Which  he  may  read  that  binds  the  sheaf, 

Or  builds  the  house,  or  digs  the  grave, 
And  those  wild  eyes  that  watch  the  wave 

In  roarings  round  the  coral  reef. 

The  study  of  the  life  of  Christ  in  recent  years 
has  brought  Him  nearer  to  us.  We  have  seen 
Him  among  men,  revealing  Himself,  letting  us 
look  upon  his  design  as  it  touched  the  lives 
which  were  around  Him.  We  have  made  use  of 
the  privilege  afforded  us  to  know  Him,  and  in 
this  we  have  lost  nothing  of  reverence  and  admira- 
tion, and  have  gained  something  in  obedience  and 

love. 

Iii  all  that  we  see  and  hear  there  stands  forth 
tlic  Personality  which  calls  for  homage.  He  is 
above  all  which  He  does.  He  is  greater  than 
his  life.  To  judge  what  He  did  and  said  apart 
from  Himself  can  only  result  in  confusion  and 
misconception.  Let  us  not  fail  to  mark  his  con- 
st iint  pains  to  have  us  comprehend  the  truth  of 
his  being.     He  is  grieved  when  men  are  content 


PURPOSE  AND   METHOD    OF  CHRIST        169 

with  what  He  does,  and  do  not  take  Him ;  when 
they  want  loaves  in  the  wilderness,  but  do  not 
care  for  Himself,  the  Bread  from  heaven.  "I" 
is  of  necessity  the  most  prominent  word  in  all  the 
accounts  of  his  life.  He  knows  and  asserts  his 
relation  to  God,  whom  He  calls  "The  Father," 
and  uMy  Father."  He  knows  that  He  has  come 
from  Him.  There  are  no  terms  which  describe 
this  perfectly.  It  is  plain  that  every  time  He 
speaks  of  it  his  words  mean  too  little.  There  is 
a  mystic  tone  which  reminds  us  of  their  insuffi- 
ciency. "  Believe  Me  that  I  am  in  the  Father, 
and  the  Father  in  Me."  "That  all  men  may 
know  the  Son,  even  as  they  know  the  Father." 
"  I  do  nothing  of  Myself,  but  as  the  Father  taught 
Me,  I  speak  these  things."  "  I  and  my  Father 
are  one."  "  My  Father  is  greater  than  I."  Wk  All 
things  that  the  Father  hath  are  mine."  "And 
this  is  life  eternal,  that  they  should  know  Thee, 
the  only  true  God,  and  Him  whom  thou  didst 
send,  even  Jesus  Christ."  "  That  they  may  all 
be  one ;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in 
Thee/'  Let  me  read  one  more  sentence,  and  this 
from  the  first  of  the  Gospels.  "  All  things  have 
been  delivered  unto  Me  of  my  Father:  and  no 
one  knoweth  the  Son,  save  the  Father  ;  neither 
doth  any  know  the  Father,  save  the  Son,  and  he 
to  whomsoever  the  Son  willeth  to  reveal  Him." 


170        PURPOSE  AND   METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

These  things  were  spoken,  were  written,  were 
believed,  and  they  are  in  keeping  with  the  life 
into  whose  years  they  are  set.  They  are  in  place 
in  one  Life,  but  not  in  any  other  of  which  we  have 
knowledge.  I  pray  you  to  mark  the  presence  of 
this  consciousness  of  oneness  with  God.  Even  if 
the  words  are  not  given  precisely  in  the  form  in 
which  they  were  spoken,  syllable  by  syllable,  I 
cai  11  lot  doubt  that  they  present  thoughts  which 
He  expressed,  and  which  are  so  impressive  that 
they  could  not  readily  be  changed,  or  lost. 

I  do  not  wish  to  speak  of  this  now.  But  if  we 
are  to  study  the  life  of  any  one,  his  words  are  a 
Large  part  of  the  material  at  our  command.  With 
thoughts  like  these  in  his  mind,  how  could  it  be 
otherwise  than  that  the  whole  life  should  be  per- 
vaded l»v  them?  Thus  we  find  it  in  its  entire 
course,  and  it  is  never  so  manifest  as  in  his  last 
hours  witli  the  friends  whom  He  is  to  leave  in  the 
world  to  teach  the  things  learned  of  Him,  and  to 
advance  the  work  for  which  He  has  given  Him- 
self. We  shall  do  well  to  read  these  verses  with 
this  intent,  that  we  may  mark  his  consciousness 
of  the  lite  of  God.  It  was  of  this  that  He  was  to 
give  to  men.  I  have  no  theological  phrases  or 
purposes;  for  it  is  only  the  fact  in  its  simplicity 
which  is  now  before  us.  Gratitude  and  hope  hail 
this  coming  of  life  to  give  life  to  the  world,  and 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD    OF  CHRIST        171 

may  well  be  satisfied.  If  life  is  to  come  it  must 
be  from  above.  As  it  was  the  first  time,  so  must 
it  be  the  second  time.  The  Creator  must  be  the 
Saviour  for  his  own  sake  and  for  our  sake.  Who 
shall  presume  to  rescue  and  restore  the  work  of 
God  ?  If  one  may  compare  two  things  which  are 
impossible  to  men,  it  would  seem  to  be  easier  to 
create  the  world  than  to  save  it ;  once  to  make  a 
man  in  the  divine  image  than  to  make  him  the 
second  time  when  the  image  has  been  broken  and 
its  value  lost.  The  good  intention  it  may  not  be 
hard  to  discover.  It  is  the  power  which  is  lack- 
ing. Hence  we  rejoice  with  great  joy,  not  merely 
over  this  life  of  wonderful  beauty  and  lofty  desire, 
but  over  a  life  which  has  come  out  of  heaven, 
and  whose  sources  of  strength  are  in  God,  and 
are  exhaustless. 

In  what  terms  shall  I  describe  the  relation  of 
Christ  to  God  ?  I  have  studied  his  life,  consid- 
ered his  words,  observed  his  influence,  marked  his 
place  in  the  world,  felt  his  presence,  and  received 
the  witness  of  those  who  in  special  intimacy  have 
walked  with  Him.  My  own  conception  of  the 
Person  of  Christ  is  as  exalted  in  form  as  I  can  now 
have  it,  while  I  am  assured  that  He  will  be  more 
and  more  glorified  in  my  thought  as  the  centuries 
grow. 

Personal  interest  is  not  to  control  one's  judg- 


L72        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

ment  of  truth.  But  it  is  to  me  a  cause  for  profound 
-latitude  that  here  my  belief  and  my  interests, 
my  desire  and  my  conviction,  are  entirely  in  accord. 
I  am  speaking  for  myself,  and  not  another,  and  not 
venturing  to  measure  any  one's  contentment.  It 
may  at  least  be  said  that  the  greater  Christ  is,  the 
richer  are  those  who  call  Him  friend.  I  ought  in 
honesty  to  present  this  result  of  my  own  study, 
attended  with  the  prolonged  testing  of  confidence 
and  experience. 

Yet  for  my  design  in  these  pages,  I  prefer  to 
give  you  the  statements  of  others,  and  of  those  not 
of  my  own  theological  school,  but  of  the  wider 
fraternity  of  Christian  men.  I  think  I  can  do  no 
better  than  to  repeat  the  words  of  the  late  revered 
preacher  to  Harvard  University,  whose  life  was 
so  strong  that  many  churches  desired  it,  whose 
spirit  was  so  gentle  that  many  churches  claimed  it. 
If  any  one  can  mediate  between  variant  opinions 
and  expressions,  it  is  Dr.  Andrew  Peabody.  These 
are  his  words,  spoken  in  King's  Chapel:  "We 
have  in  Jesus  Divine  humanity,  God  manifest  in 
the  flesh,  God  in  Christ,  all  of  God  that  can  be  in- 
carnate, all  of  God  that  we  can  fully  comprehend," 
"all  of  the  Divine  that  is  communicable."  "God 
in  Christ  is  the  only  God  that  the  Christian 
knows.*'  To  this  I  may  add  the  remark  of  Presi- 
de! it  James  Walker:  "We  see  in  Christ  what  we 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CI1RIST       173 

worship  in  God."  The  Greek  Fathers  with  their 
insight  saw  in  Him  the  "  intensified  presence  "  of 
God. 

But  the  life  of  Christ  is  not  related  to  the 
Father  alone.  It  is  in  vital  relation  to  men  also. 
The  life  is  in  a  man.  He  carries  the  life  of  man 
through  to  the  end.  The  man  is  born,  he  lives, 
he  grows,  he  dies,  and  is  entombed.  The  eternal 
Word  became  flesh,  and  dwelt  among  men,  and 
they  beheld  his  glory.  This  is  written.  Living 
thus  among  them,  He  blessed  them.  He  gave 
Himself  and  his  own  life,  in  sympathy,  guidance, 
comfort,  light,  and  life.  He  was  so  near  to  them 
that  He  could  touch  them.  Men  touched  Him, 
and  drew  away  strength.  Virtue  came  forth  from 
Him.  Light  flashed  from  his  fingers  into  nighted 
eyes,  and  health  was  plucked  from  the  fringe  of 
his  garment.  When  his  bidding  fell  upon  the 
storm  it  dropped  into  quiet.  Thus  it  is  told  by 
men  who  were  there.  He  was  the  Good  Shep- 
herd, who  must  be  with  his  flock,  where  they  can 
see  Him,  and  know  his  voice ;  where  He  can 
defend  them,  and  if  need  be  give  his  life  for  them. 
He  must  be  able  to  go  up  the  mountain  if  one 
has  strayed,  and  take  it  upon  his  shoulders,  and 
bring  it  home  where  He  can  rejoice  over  it.  All 
this  He  was.  Indeed,  He  asserted  a  more  inti- 
mate relation  with  men,  whom  He  called  sheep. 


174        PURPOSE  AND   METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

It  was  an  old  name  for  them,  and  in  that  land 
an  affectionate  name.  Strangers  blamed  Him 
because  He  extended  his  favors  to  men  whom 
they  disapproved.  "You  would  do  the  same," 
He  answered.  "  If  one  of  your  sheep  was  lost, 
you  would  go  after  it."  "Yes,  my  sheep,"  they 
thought.  "Well,  these  are  my  sinners  and  my 
publicans."  Thus  He  claimed  men,  as  if  they 
were  his.  Were  they  not  his?  But  He  went 
farther  than  this.  The  shepherd  is,  after  all, 
external.  "  I  am  the  vine,"  He  said  ;  "  ye  are  the 
branches."  This  was  to  his  friends,  but  it  was  the 
word  they  were  to  pass  on.  Now,  the  vine  gives 
its  own  life  to  the  branches.  The  branches  are 
the  vine,  extended,  multiplied.  If  its  life  is 
Divine,  their  life  becomes  Divine,  for  it  is  this 
which  it  has  to  impart.  An  Italian  monk,  a  poet, 
has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  this  is  all  the 
vine  can  do.  It  cannot  give  beams  for  a  house, 
nor  timber  for  a  ship.  It  can  only  give  its  life, 
that  is,  itself.  This  may  be  pressing  the  figure 
unduly.  But  it  is  certain  that  it  was  this  which 
He  gave,  and,  in  comparison  with  this,  He  gave 
nothing  beside.  For  what  were  bread,  and  eyes, 
and  health  to  be  mentioned  with  his  own  life  ! 
Indeed,  He  left  all  illustration  when  He  said, 
"  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live."  See  where  in  his 
consciousness  He  stood,  bringing  from  the  Father 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       175 

the  life  which  was  his  own,  and  bestowing  it  upon 
men,  that  they  might  live  as  the  children  of  God. 
I  wish  that  I  knew  of  some  stronger  terms  in 
which  to  describe  his  devotion  to  men.  The  facts 
exceed  all  statements.  We  need  to  avoid  all 
thought  of  otherness,  as  if  He  was  between  God 
and  the  world.  We  are  not  to  regard  Him  as  sep- 
arate from  us,  standing  apart,  near  but  remote  ; 
only  a  messenger  from  heaven,  or,  perhaps,  the  very 
grace  of  heaven.  He  was  in  the  Father  and  He 
was  in  the  world.  He  believed  in  the  world.  The 
earth  itself  He  had  made  —  thus  the  New  Testa- 
ment teaches.  In  our  statements  creation  is  often 
ascribed  to  the  Father  Almighty ;  but  the  Gospels 
and  the  Epistles  present  the  Son  as  the  Maker  of 
all  things.  He  would  be  interested  in  the  world 
which  He  had  made  and  was  holding  together,  and 
in  the  events  which  were  wrought  out  upon  it  from 
the  beginning.  There  was  nothing  here  which 
did  not  in  some  way  touch  Him,  because  of  his 
relation  to  the  Father  of  men  and  to  the  men 
themselves  who  were  his  kindred,  both  in  their 
Divine  nature  and  in  the  manhood  which  was  his. 
In  Him  the  Father  came  to  men  and  was  among 
them.  In  Him  men  came  to  the  Father,  com- 
mended by  his  brotherhood.  For  thirty-three 
years  He  lived  among  men.  One  avIio  knew  Him 
well  applied  to  Him   the  words   of   the  prophet 


176        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

regarding  the  Messiah  —  "  Himself  took  our 
infirmities,  and  bare  our  sicknesses."  Another, 
whose  name  we  do  not  know,  wrote  that  He 
was  "in  all  points  tempted  like  as  we  are,  yet 
without  sin."  Indeed,  his  connection  with  man 
was  all  his  own.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  He 
was  the  only  man  of  the  race  who  chose  to  be 
born  into  it.  He  came  for  a  purpose.  Mark 
how  thoroughly  He  was  involved  with  the  world, 
carrying  it  always  upon  his  heart.  He  longed 
to  see  it  at  peace  with  itself  and  its  Maker.  He 
rejoiced  over  every  good  man,  over  the  return  of 
every  wanderer,  and  every  sign  of  better  things. 
He  was  grieved  over  its  wrong-doing,  its  insincer- 
ity, its  selfishness.  He  knew  that  He  had  come 
to  set  it  free  from  the  evil,  and  to  establish  it  in 
righteousness.  He  knew  that  this  would  cost  Him 
his  life,  but  He  was  willing  it  should  be  so. 
To  die,  and  yet  to  fail  among  his  own  people 
was  hard,  for  his  love  and  desire  were  strong. 
He  loved  the  city  and  wept  over  it  —  "If  thou 
hadst  known  !  "  "  O  Jerusalem,  Jerusalem,  how 
often  would  I  have  gathered  thy  children  to- 
gether, even  as  a  hen  gathereth  her  chickens 
under  her  wings,  and  ye  would  not!"  He  held 
11  n mi  in  his  heart  and  named  them  with  Himself. 
He  taught  them  to  say,  "Our  Father  which 
art  in  heaven,"  and  if,  for  Himself,  He  never  said 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       ITT 

"Our  Father,"  still  after  his  resurrection  He 
did  speak  to  his  friends  of  "  My  Father  and  your 
Father,"  as  of  "My  God  and  your  God."  This 
is  more  than  "  Our  Father "  would  have  meant, 
in  its  disclosure  of  a  special  power  to  be  used  for 
man's  advantage. 

The  name  Jesus  was  a  personal  designation. 
It  is  found  in  the  Annunciation  to  his  mother, 
and  was  appointed  because  of  its  appropriateness. 
"  For  it  is  He  that  shall  save  his  people  from 
their  sins."  The  name  Emmanuel  was  recalled 
from  Isaiah,  but  was  not  afterward  applied  to 
Him,  so  far  as  we  know.  In  the  Gospels  Christ 
is  an  official  name,  and  is  more  precisely  rendered 
"  the  Christ,"  or  the  Anointed.  He  seldom  used 
this  name.  He  said,  "One  is  your  master,  even 
the  Christ."  The  two  are  well  joined  in  this 
passage;  Simon  Peter  said,  "Thou  art  the  Christ, 
the  Son  of  the  living  God."  And  Jesus  answered, 
"  Blessed  art  thou."  They  are  found  in  another 
form  in  the  Prayer:  "This  is  life  eternal,  that 
they  should  know  Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and 
Him  whom  Thou  didst  send,  even  Jesus  Christ." 
When  we  pass  to  St.  Paul's  writings  Christ  has 
become  a  personal  name.  In  this  the  office  takes 
the  place  of  the  man,  who  is  known  by  his  mission 
and  work.  To  be  the  anointed  of  God  is  evidently 
much  more  than  to  be  the  Son  of  Mary.     Which 


178        PUB  POSE  AND   METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

name  we  shall  use  is  chiefly  a  matter  of  personal 
preference.  It  is  natural  to  retain  the  name  in 
the  Gospels.  But  we  are  more  accurate,  histori- 
cally, when  we  call  Him  Christ,  and  this  is  more 
in  keeping  with  the  name  uniformly  given  to  his 
friends.  Yet  both  names  are  to  be  regarded. 
I'm-  Jesus,  with  all  the  glory  of  his  birth,  the 
beauty  of  his  youth,  the  strength  of  his  man- 
hood, the  sublimity  of  his  death  and  resurrection, 
was  the  anointed  One.  Upon  Him  descended 
the  Holy  Spirit,  in  Him  dwelt  grace  and  truth. 
When  we  have  Jesus  clearly  and  permanently  in 
our  minds  we  are  prepared  to  see  Him  "The 
Anointed,"  at  once  the  Son  of  Man  and  the  Son  of 
God.  The  influence  of  Christmas  will  preserve 
in  a  delightful  way  the  Child  Jesus.  Our  elder 
knowledge,  treasuring  the  tender  faith  of  child- 
hood, must  see  Him  who  was  born  in  Bethlehem 
anointed  with  grace  that  the  world  may  be  blessed 
with  the  peace  of  God. 

It  was  in  the  fulfilment  of  his  mission  as  Christ, 
the  anointed,  that  He  preached  the  Kingdom  of 
God,  or  the  Kingdom  of  heaven.  He  knew  well 
what  the  Kingdom  is.  It  stands  in  the  will  of 
God.  It  is  the  extension  of  the  principles  by 
which  heaven  is  constituted.  When  these  are 
established  on  the  earth  the  Kingdom  of  heaven  is 
here.     It  is  in  its  last  analysis  the  nature  of  the 


PURPOSE  AND   METHOD   OF  CHRIST        179 

Eternal  expressing  itself  for  the  governance  of 
those  who  have  his  life,  and  responded  to  by  their 
nature  which  is  of  his.  Whether  in  heaven  or  on 
earth  this  is  its  essential  character.  The  Kingdom 
of  God  among  men  was  meant  to  be  as  simple, 
natural,  constant,  as  among  trees  and  stars.  As 
it  was  preached  by  Him,  it  was  to  be  composed 
of  men  who  had  received  the  Divine  life  and  were 
to  keep  it  in  the  rule  of  heaven.  When  one 
man,  or  one  company  of  men,  is  placed  under 
these  rules,  the  Kingdom  has  come.  It  is  within 
a  man  when  he  brings  his  thoughts  under  its  con- 
trol. It  is  among  men,  wherever  there  are  those 
who  live  in  the  obedience  of  God.  Many  do  this. 
More  will  do  it.  It  is  the  consummation  of 
human  hopes.  In  it  is  the  magnificent  expression 
of  Christ's  desire.  There  is  no  hindering  mys- 
tery. There  is  no  difficulty,  no  complication, 
when  men  desire  this.  It  does  not  involve  dis- 
organization, but  purification  and  uplifting.  It 
is  not  meat  and  drink ;  yet  it  requires  the  indus- 
try which  covers  the  fields  with  grain,  and  brings 
streams  of  water  from  the  hills.  It  is  "  righteous- 
ness, and  peace,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost." 
That  was  the  definition  which  St.  Paul  sent  into 
the  Empire.  It  requires  kings  and  all  who  are 
in  authority  to  fashion  their  laws  after  the  will  of 
God.     It  would  briiiL*-  all  business,  and  all  social 


180        PURPOSE  AND   METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

relations,  under  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  It 
requires  honor,  service,  charity.  All  are  called 
into  it:  the  poor,  the  prodigal,  the  rich,  the 
prudent,  the  near  and  the  distant.  It  is  every 
man's  kingdom  and  country.  This  He  taught. 
He  was  plain,  but  patient.  He  sought  the  be- 
ginnings and  then  would  trust  them  as  leaven 
and  seed.  It  was  thus  in  nature,  and  this  was 
nature.  That  which  He  wished  to  secure  would 
be  gained  if  men  would  obey  Him.  He  would 
have  it  begin  with  his  own  people,  but  it  was 
to  fill  the  world.  No  countries  are  named  in 
the  Lord's  Prayer.  In  the  Beatitudes  those 
whom  He  blesses  possess  both  heaven  and  earth. 
It  was  an  eternal  Kingdom.  To  leave  the  world 
could  not  remove  one  from  it,  for  in  his  thought 
heaven  and  earth  are  one.  The  citizens  of  the 
Kingdom  would  all  be  brethren,  possessing  the 
Divine  life,  knowing  a  common  descent  and  cher- 
ishing brotherly  sympathy  and  affection.  They 
would  be  united  by  blood,  and  this  would  be 
thicker  than  anything  else  that  flows.  The 
world  would  be  really  the  Father's  house,  or  a 
portion  of  it,  and  the  family  life  would  grow 
within  its  walls.  He  taught  the  prayer  which 
we  still  repeat,  not  always  realizing  how  deep  are 
the  words  we  say,  and  perhaps  not  always  con- 
senting  to  them  for  ourselves,  —  "Thy  Kingdom 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST        181 

come,  Thy  will  be  done."  It  is  the  divine  sum- 
mons to  loyalty.  Is  not  this  the  purpose  we  have 
traced,  to  bring  men  to  God,  to  give  the  second 
time  the  Divine  life? 

"  The  Kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand  "  was  the 
cry  which  preceded  his  appearance.  The  King 
had  been  sung  by  psalmists  and  announced  by 
prophets.  He  accepted  the  royal  office,  declared 
the  royal  authority,  set  up  the  Kingdom  in  his 
own  name.  Abraham  had  begun  a  nation.  Moses 
had  restored  it.  David  had  given  it  solidity  and 
extension.  But  the  kingdom  of  God  was  not  then 
in  the  earth,  save  in  a  few  devoted  hearts,  and  in 
a  purpose  which  could  not  be  disturbed.  The 
herald  had  declared  his  approach,  but  had  dis- 
turbed nothing  except  the  wrong-doing  in  the 
Lives  of  men.  He  said  no  word  of  politics,  re- 
moved no  business,  left  men  to  plant  the  field 
and  sail  the  sea,  to  collect  tribute  and  defend  the 
country  as  before.  But  He  called  for  unselfish 
lives,  for  integrity,  and  quietness,  and  content- 
ment. He  would  break  up  all  shams,  demolish 
insincerity,  and  by  making  the  hearts  of  men  clean 
prepare  them  for  the  coming  King,  in  whose  rule 
they  would  find  uprightness  and  all  good.  No 
one  could  be  in  it  who  was  not  loyal,  and  no  one 
was  loyal  who  was  not  good. 

The  Kino-  came.     The  Psalm  had  announced 


182        PURPOSE  AND   METHOD    OF  CHRIST 

Ilim  as  afterward  the  Epistle  named  Him  and 
described  his  rule  —  "Thy  throne,  0  God,  is  for- 
ever and  ever;  and  the  sceptre  of  uprightness  is 
the  sceptre  of  thy  Kingdom.  Thou  hast  loved 
righteousness,  and  hated  iniquity." 

There  were  upon  Him  none  of  the  signs  of 
royalty,  though  his  birth  was  with  more  than  regal 
splendor.  But  its  reality  was  there  and  He  soon 
made  this  felt.  For  He  was  anointed  with  the 
oil  of  gladness  above  his  fellows.  He  asserted 
authority  over  the  minds  of  men  and  over  their 
hearts,  and  made  their  destiny  turn  on  their  loyalty 
to  Him.  "  Ye  did  it  unto  Me."  He  ordered  their 
lives,  instructed  their  thoughts,  diverted  their  pur- 
poses, changed  their  beliefs,  startled  their  religion, 
revealed  their  life  to  come.  He  began  his  new 
Constitution  with  the  Beatitudes,  as  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments called  to  remembrance  the  favor  of 
God ;  but  He  ended  with  a  standing  or  a  falling 
house  ;  standing  or  falling  as  it  obeyed  or  neglected 
his  teaching.  He  gave  honor  to  those  who  had 
been  before  Him;  from  a  child  they  had  been  his 
heroes.  But.  when  He  would,  He  boldly  set  aside 
their  words;  u  Ye  have  heard  .  .  .  But  I  sa}' 
unto  you."  lie  took  two  commandments  from 
their  obscurity,  covered  with  a  mass  of  regula- 
tions, and  gave  them  spirit  and  life  for  all  time. 
He  stretched   his  rule  into  eternity.      AVith  the 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHPIST       183 

wealth,  and  power,  and  virtue  of  a  king  He  be- 
stowed his  impartial  benefits,  and  made  men  feel 
even  here  the  blessedness  of  a  reign  which  should 
be  forever,  in  "the  city  and  commonwealth  of 
God,"  —  "a  community  whose  service  is  simple 
righteousness,  and  whose  patriotism  is  an  inex- 
haustible love  of  perfection." 

There  was  no  display.  He  moved  quietly 
through  the  few  months  which  were  allotted 
Him.  At  the  close  He  came  from  Bethany  into 
the  Capital,  the  city  of  David,  as  He  had  never 
come  before.  A  great  company  attended  Him. 
A  multitude  from  his  own  North  country,  who 
had  come  to  Jerusalem  for  the  feast,  went  out  to 
meet  Him,  and  hailed  Him  with  their  hosannas. 
They  spread  their  garments  in  the  way,  and  cast 
in  his  path  branches  from  the  trees.  They  cried 
as  He  rode  on,  "  Blessed  is  the  King  that  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord :  peace  in  heaven  and 
glory  in  the  highest."  He  came  as  a  king,  because 
He  was  a  King.  Only  once,  and  it  was  Sunday, 
He  let  the  world  see  his  royalty.  So  once  He 
had  stood  on  Hermon,  and  his  face  shone  and 
his  garments  glistened.  That  this  was  but  once, 
and  that  never  anything  resembling  it  came  at 
another  time,  is  a  witness  to  its  truth.  If  any 
writer  had  desired  to  clothe  Him  with  splendor 
it  would  have  been  done  twice.     The  restraint  is 


I  B  I        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

testimony.  At  all  times  submissive,  meek,  and 
lowly,  He  consented  to  be  transfigured;  He  con- 
sented  to  be  enthroned.  It  was  enough  for  reve- 
lation, and  it  was  soon  over.  Then  He  wept 
before  the  city,  and  the  people  cried,  "  Crucify 
Him!  "  The  world  crucified  Him.  Europe  con- 
demned Him  to  the  cross.  Asia  furnished  the 
cross  to  which  He  was  nailed,  as  it  had  desired. 
Africa,  land  of  servants,  gave  a  man  to  bear  the 
cross  when  He  sank  under  it.  The  inscription 
in  three  languages  proclaimed  Him  King  of  the 
.lews.  The  title  pleased  no  one.  If  all  after 
King  had  been  omitted,  the  writing  would  have 
been  with  dignity.  Pilate  answered  to  the  men 
who  complained,  "  What  I  have  written,  I  have 
written."  That  was  evident,  but  he  had  not 
written  anything,  except  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 

The  crucifixion  was  thought  to  be  the  end. 
The  multitudes  who  had  been  brought  together 
by  the  spectacle  went  their  way,  smiting  their 
1  avasts.  Priests  and  rulers  breathed  more  freely 
when  his  reproving  presence  was  at  length  with- 
drawn. The  hearts  of  friends  were  in  despair. 
The  mother  had  given  herself  into  the  keeping  of 
the  disciple  whom  Jesus  loved,  and  they  lived  in 
the  affection  of  the  Cross.  The  new  tomb  re- 
ceived  its  earliest  tenant.  It  was  in  a  garden,  as 
it  was  in  a  garden   that  the  need  of  a  sepulchre 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD    OF  CHRIST        185 

began,  even  as  it  had  been  foretold.  The  stone 
kept  the  door,  and  the  seal  kept  the  stone,  and 
the  guard  of  soldiers  watched  before  the  deserted 
house.  "  Make  it  as  sure  as  you  can  "  was  the  per- 
mission and  command.  But  nothing  was  ended, 
save  that  the  method  of  the  life  which  moved 
among  men  was  changed.  Its  works  were  not 
undone :  the  blind  retained  their  sight,  the  lame 
walked ;  the  young  man  was  seen  on  the  streets 
of  Nain,  and  the  ruler's  daughter  gladdened  her 
father's  house ;  while  Lazarus  passed  when  he 
would  between  Bethany  and  Jerusalem.  The 
words  lived  in  the  fulness  of  their  truth  —  com- 
mandments, promises,  revelations.  The  Lord's 
Prayer,  the  Beatitudes,  the  Ten  Commandments, 
parted  with  nothing  of  their  force.  The  air  was 
full  of  the  life  He  had  breathed  into  it. 

In  his  thought  there  was  no  change,  no  rest, 
as  his  purposes,  often  declared,  went  on  to  their 
accomplishment.  More  firm  than  heaven  and 
earth,  his  sayings  could  not  pass  away.  The  last 
night  with  his  disciples,  the  night  of  the  Passover 
and  the  Eucharist,  was  glorified  with  his  unfalter- 
ing, increasing  design.  Never  had  He  spoken  so 
fully  of  Himself  and  his  intent.  He  knew  that  a 
few  hours  would  bring  Him  to  the  cross.  But  with 
a  confidence  unparalleled;  clear,  steady,  gener- 
ous, loving,  Divine  ;  He  looked  through  the  clouds 


186        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD    OF  CHRIST 

of  death  and  saw  his  life  in  its  Divine  and  eternal 
triumph.  "I  have  overcome  the  world."  "O 
righteous  Father,  the  world  knew  Thee  not,  but  I 
knew  Thee  ;  and  these  knew  that  Thou  didst  send 
Me  ;  and  I  made  known  unto  them  Thy  name,  and 
will  make  it  known ;  that  the  love  wherewith 
Thou  lovedst  Me  may  be  in  them,  and  I  in  them." 
Here  was  more  than  submission  and  more  than 
courage.  Here  was  the  clear  consciousness  of 
his  life  and  its  design,  and  the  certainty  that  these 
would  pass  victorious  through  all  which  awaited 
them  ;  nay,  more,  that  they  would  be  fulfilled  in 
the  very  events  which  to  the  world  appeared  to 
thwart  them.  His  confidence  remained  through 
all  the  dreadful  hours.  It  was  perfect,  even  upon 
the  cross. 

He  was  the  King,  and  He  knew  that  his  king- 
dom was  coming,  and  He  knew  the  way  of  its 
approach.  It  was  as  plain  as  the  road  over  which 
He  passed  on  the  day  when  the  inconstant  world 
hailed  Him  with  its  hosannas.  When  his  king- 
dom covers  the  earth,  the  needed  restoration  of 
man  to  himself  and  to  his  Lord  will  be  estab- 
lished. For  this  the  world  waits.  It  is  wise  only 
when  it  beholds  the  method  of  God,  and  sees  in 
his  Son  the  King  whose  reign  is  in  righteousness 
and  mercy.  Whatever  agencies  may  serve  his 
thought,  whatever  kings  may  move  in  his  train, 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       187 

by  whatever  influences  He  may  be  assisted,  in 
nature  and  in  the  will  of  the  world,  He  alone 
draws  men  to  the  Divine  life  which  is  life  indeed. 
His  force  is  even  now  bringing  in  this  result. 
I  have  allowed  myself  for  a  moment  to  an- 
ticipate that  which  is  to  come.  I  have  done  this 
lest  in  studying  the  life  of  Christ  as  it  was 
upon  the  earth  we  should  lose  sight  of  the  mean- 
ing of  it,  and  of  the  end  toward  which  it  is 
advancing. 

In  returning  to  the  history  itself,  it  is  evident 
that  the  teaching  of  Christ  and  his  life  are 
adapted  to  all  times  and  all  lands.  This  is  seen 
to  be  true  in  the  nature  of  things,  but  it  has  also 
been  abundantly  proved.  In  his  Personality  He 
is  at  home  anywhere,  while  his  words  are  readily 
applied  wherever  they  are  taken,  and  they  have 
been  taken  into  all  the  world.  There  are  no 
marks  of  nationality.  The  illustrations,  as  given 
in  the  parables,  are  appreciated  everywhere.  Even 
while  He  speaks  so  often  of  a  kingdom,  He  does 
not  give  his  approval  to  any  particular  form  of 
government.  Every  land  has  its  political  life  and 
institutions  and  will  understand  the  terms  He  uses. 
But  He  does  not  disturb  the  sovereignties  of  the 
nations.  His  kingdom  might  be  in  a  republic,  or 
in  a  monarchy,  under  emperor  or  czar,  or  the  head 
of  an  island  tribe.     He  would  bring  the  emperor  or 


188        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

the  chief  under  his  rule  and  thus  administer  the  in- 
terests of  the  nation.  This  has  been  found  practi- 
cable, for  the  kingdom  is  already  established  under 
every  form  of  political  arrangement.  It  embraces 
all  sorts  of  good  men  and  all  kinds  of  honest  and 
useful  work.  It  needs  every  man,  and  offers  to 
every  one  a  chance  to  earn  the  daily  bread  for 
which  He  prays,  and  doubles  its  value  with  the 
sweetness  of  industry  and  honesty.  He  gave  broad 
principles  of  living,  wherein  class  would  not  be  at 
variance  with  class.  Differences  of  judgment,  ap- 
parent differences  of  interest,  would  be  referred  to 
the  king,  and  would  be  settled  under  his  direction. 
His  rules  honestly  administered  would  be  found 
adequate  to  the  work  required  of  them.  It  is 
true  that  He  once  refused  to  be  a  judge  or  adviser 
when  two  brothers  quarrelled  over  an  inheritance. 
There  was  no  need  of  his  interference,  and  if  the 
men  knew  his  teaching  they  knew  the  rule  by 
which  their  dispute  should  be  settled.  He  is 
really  a  Prince  of  Peace  wherever  men  and  na- 
tions order  their  ways  by  his  principles.  The 
highest  arbitration  makes  Him  the  King  and  his 
laws  supreme. 

An  eminent  judge  has  recently  said:  "  A  very 
perfect  administration  of  justice  would  be  found 
where  the  courts  had  no  contested  litigation  to 
decide,  because    their  counsellors   and  attorneys 


PURPOSE  AND   METHOD    OF  CUEIST        189 

were  so  learned,  so  assiduous,  so  disinterested,  so 
frank,  so  fair,  and  so  faithful  as  to  induce  all  clients 
to  do  justly  and  to  submit  to  right."  This  was  in 
recognition  of  the  virtue  of  a  lawyer  of  high  rank 
of  whom  it  was  more  directly  said,  "  He  sacrificed 
himself,  he  labored  for  others,  not  as  in  obedience 
to  a  stern  law-giver,  but  with  the  sweetness  as 
of  a  Catholic  saint/'  A  character  like  this  of  my 
friend  and  classmate,  Christ  would  create  in  every 
lawyer  and  in  every  man. 

His  rule  enlarges  manhood  and  extends  freedom. 
He  would  break  all  chains  and  have  men  free 
indeed,  living  in  intelligence  and  uprightness. 
Hence  He  fosters  schools  and  churches,  and  pro- 
motes all  useful  learning.  He  is  true  to  his  own 
nation  in  this,  for  there  were  schools  for  educa- 
tion in  Judea  "  long  before  Plato  had  gathered  his 
disciples  round  him  in  the  olive  grove,  or  Zeno  in 
the  Portico." 

His  rule  encourages  art,  which  had  warrant  in 
tabernacle  and  temple,  and  all  which  belonged  to 
them,  and  still  more  in  the  world  which  had  given 
its  imagery  to  the  Scriptures.  He  let  men  see  the 
world,  and  know  it,  and  He  nurtured  their  love  of 
the  true  and  beautiful.  More  than  all,  He 
furnished  in  the  incidents  of  his  own  life  the 
choicest  themes  for  music  and  painting.  It  is  not 
by  chance  that  the  art  of  Christian  lands  is  m  >st 


190        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD  OF  CHRIST 

prized,     both   for    its    skill    .and    that    which   it 

portrays. 

The  head  of  his  kingdom  is  the  ideal  King, 
sovereign  in  authority,  righteous  and  generous, 
living  without  fear  and  ruling  without  compul- 
sion. His  hanner  over  us  is  love.  Patriotism  is 
a  department  of  religion,  for  the  King  is  Divine. 
Citizenship  is  worship.  In  a  republic  voting 
is  religious.  The  holy  city  rises  from  the  earth 
to  meet  the  holy  city  descending  out  of  heaven. 
He  enjoined  no  form  of  speech.  The  tongues  of 
Babel  were  not  to  be  one  tongue,  but  the  hearts  of 
Babel  were  to  be  one  heart.  Many  tongues  were 
heard  at  Pentecost,  and  the  Bible  is  already  writ- 
ten in  the  languages  of  the  earth.  Learning  has 
done  some  of  its  best  work  in  translating  his 
words,  and  in  this  has  honored  them  and  exalted 
itself. 

His  teachings  are  not  affected  by  the  advance 
of  learning.  He  gave  no  opinion  and  no  instruc- 
tion upon  aiiv  question  of  science.  The  recent 
advances  do  not  affect  any  truth  He  taught. 
There  is  something  fine  in  the  serenity,  the  delight, 
with  which  the  Christian  watches  the  study  of 
nature,  joins  in  it  himself,  finding  in  it  more  and 
more  of  the  thought  of  God.  One  of  the  leading 
scientific  men  of  our  time,  who  had  once  been  con- 
fused   in  bis  faith,  lias  said  to  me,  "My  study  of 


PUBPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       191 

nature  made  me  a  Christian. "  He  wrote  also,  "  In 
my  own  mind,  the  doctrine  of  Christ  is  the  sum- 
mit and  crown  of  the  organic  series.  It  expresses 
the  final  result  of  that  directed  striving  which 
began  millions  of  years  ago."  It  may  be  remarked 
farther  that  Christ  gave  no  instruction  upon  lit- 
erary questions.  He  knew  the  Old  Testament 
Scriptures  and  gave  them  his  sanction.  But  He 
did  not  give  instruction  regarding  authorship, 
dates,  and  places.  He  did  indeed  refer  to  Moses 
and  the  prophets  and  the  Psalms,  and  show  that 
these  spoke  of  Him,  and  He  pointed  out  things 
concerning  Himself.  But  He  did  not  name  the 
authors  of  the  Psalms,  or  explain  the  composition 
of  the  first  books  of  the  canon.  There  is  room 
here  for  our  highest  scholarship,  and  when  its 
Avork  is  done  there  will  remain  unanswered  ques- 
tions. Yet  we  shall  continue  to  find  the  wisdom 
which  Timothy  found,  and  to  know  that  every 
scripture  inspired  of  God  is  profitable. 

Take  the  teachings  of  Christ  where  you  will, 
into  any  school,  into  any  land,  and  they  will  keep 
their  place.  Light  may  break  forth  from  them, 
but  it  will  only  bring  out  their  truth.  If  a  fire 
should  burn  within  them,  the  bush  will  not  be 
consumed.  They  have  the  permanence  which  is 
needed  in  the  prolonged  work  which  they  are  to 
do,  if  they  are  to  help  recover  the  world.     His 


L92       PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

thought  and  intent,  his  precepts  and  promises, 
were  independent  of  all  boundaries.  The  new 
idea  of  God  was  final.  The  centuries  of  study 
have  added  nothing  to  it.  God  is  love,  and  He  is 
our  Father.  Worship  was  enjoined  in  the  only 
needful  way  and  has  never  been  improved  upon. 
The  words  at  the  well  of  Samaria  stand  as  its 
highest  and  broadest  exposition.  The  law  was 
universal.  There  was  no  fixed  series  of  rules,  no 
fcahulated  directory  of  conduct.  Life  was  to  be 
natural,  and  the  nature  was  to  be  love.  For 
method  it  was  taught  that  the  rule  of  life  is,  "  Not 
to  be  ministered  unto,  but  to  minister/'  He  went 
nu  far  as  to  add  what  was  recorded  long  after  his 
ascension,  that  "It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to 
receive,"  —  a  truth  which  we  may  yet  come  to 
accept.  We  are  complacent  because  we  think 
that  the  rule  of  service,  of  finding  our  good  in 
another's  good,  is  of  our  invention.  In  a  lapse 
of  memory  we  have  gone  so  far  as  to  give  this 
a  new  name.  It  is  simply  a  principle  taught  by 
( Ihrist.  I  lis  statement  is  stronger  than  ours,  and 
Larger.  For  the  service  is  to  be  of  the  heart.  It 
is  tin-  second  Commandment  which  is  like  the 
first.  The  love  of  man  in  the  order  of  duties 
comes  next  to  the  love  of  God.  It  could  not 
cm  lie  first,  tor  it  lias  its  origin  and  support  in 
thai    which    precedes  it.     It  was  needless  to  call 


PURPOSE  AND   METHOD   OF  OTIIUST       193 

it  altruism  when  it  is  merely  a  department  of 
Christianity.  One  of  the  disciples  challenges  all 
our  thoughts  of  humanity  in  writing  that  he  who 
does  not  love  man  does  not  love  God.  Christ's 
definition  of  neighbor  is  large.  He  is  the  man 
who  needs  you.  He  may  not  be  of  your  town, 
or  nation,  or  able  to  make  return.  He  is  per- 
haps lying  by  the  roadside  between  Jerusalem 
and  Jericho.  He  may  even  be  one  who  has 
robbed  you,  and  left  you  to  die  by  the  wayside. 
How  puerile  our  modern  notions  of  philanthropy 
appear  when  we  read  the  New  Testament !  That 
man  who  turned  from  the  persecutor  to  the 
apostle  explained  the  Christ  law  of  love.  It  hopes, 
believes,  endures ;  it  never  fails ;  it  surpasses 
learning  and  sacrifice  ;  it  is  greater  than  faith  and 
hope,  as  the  tree  is  greater  than  the  seed.  If  we 
are  learning  this,  our  teachers  are  Christians  and 
they  learned  of  Christ. 

His  teachings  concerning  money  disclose  his 
method.  He  had  no  one  rule  for  this.  He  held 
money  in  high  esteem,  as  every  honest  man  does. 
Some  should  have  it,  for  its  uses  ;  others  are  called 
to  service  in  which  they  do  not  need  it.  A  young 
man  who  was  very  rich  came  to  Him  asking  after 
eternal  life.  His  conduct  in  general  was  admira- 
ble, and  drew  out  commendation.  Two  things 
were  required  of  him,  and  the  two  stand  together: 


104        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

" Go,  sell  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor; 
and  come,  follow  me."  Perhaps  the  man's  heart 
was  hampered  by  his  wealth,  and  he  needed  to  be 
freed;  or  it  may  have  been  only  that  he  was 
called  to  close  discipleship,  and,  as  a  rich  man, 
would  1)0  out  of  place  in  the  little  company  of 
those  who  walked  with  Christ.  He  could  hardly 
attend  the  Master  in  his  walks,  and  become  an 
apostle  of  his  kingdom,  while  he  was  engaged 
with  real  estate  at  Perea.  The  young  man  heard 
the  reply,  and  was  offended.  He  had  discovered 
himself,  and  he  went  away  sad.  Whether  he  re- 
turned is  not  told.  He  was  disappointed,  for  he 
did  not  like  the  man  whom  he  had  found  in  him- 
self, to  whom  his  property  beyond  the  Jordan  was 
worth  more  than  eternal  life. 

Thus  Christ  met  one  case  in  which  money  was 
involved.  But  to  a  man  who  had  acquired  wealth 
by  dishonorable  means  Christ  gave  no  direction 
like  this.  He  was  content  that  the  publican  should 
make  fourfold  restoration  of  that  which  he  had 
wrongfully  taken  ;  and  for  what  was  left,  let  him 
use  it  as  a  Christian.  One  principle  covered  all 
cases.  ( )n  his  last  visit  to  the  Temple,  He  saw  a 
woman  castibg  two  mites  into  the  treasury.  It 
was  a  large  gift,  for  she  had  nothing  left.  The 
measure  of  a  gifl  is  in  what  is  kept.  Christ  com- 
mended  her.     Would  He  then  have  every  one  cast 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       195 

all  his  property  into  the  church  treasury?  By 
no  means.  A  man  has  no  right  to  throw  the  care 
of  it  upon  others,  or  to  deny  himself  the  blessed- 
ness of  giving  with  his  own  hand.  Let  the  man 
devote  himself,  which  includes  all  that  he  has,  to 
God  and  his  guidance,  and  give  and  keep  accord- 
ing to  his  will. 

He  gave  a  high  value  to  everything  which  was 
done  in  love.  I  have  never  heard  of  any  one  who 
appreciated  every  favor,  however  small,  so  much 
as  He.  You  give  a  cup  of  water  to  a  man  in  his 
name,  and  it  will  appear  to  your  credit  in  the  Day 
of  Judgment.  His  memory  of  love  holds  every 
loving  thing  we  do.  "  Inasmuch  "  has  become 
the  chain  by  which  reluctance  is  drawn  into 
Chris tly   service. 

The  whole  life  of  Christ  was  healthful,  simple, 
—  natural.  I  confess  that  I  like  the  word.  He 
was  thorough,  yet  we  do  not  call  Him  an  extrem- 
ist, or  think  Him  radical  and  visionary.  He 
believed  in  life,  and  enjoyed  it.  He  was  not  an 
ascetic  in  any  degree.  He  did  not  seclude  Him- 
self from  men,  but  walked  among  them,  and  sat 
at  their  tables.  His  herald  in  the  wilderness  had 
a  life  of  austerity.  This  well  became  him.  But 
Christ  began  his  miracles  at  a  wedding,  and  saved 
the  marriage  feast.  His  works  took  a  common 
form.     He  fed    men    with  bread;    He  saved  the 


196        PURPOSE  AND   METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

fisher's  boat ;  He  gave  the  palsied  man  strength 
to  carry  home  the  bed  he  lay  upon.  They  called 
Him  the  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners,  and  the 
name  pleased  Him.  He  always  liked  the  truth. 
His  parables  interpreted  common  tilings;  spar- 
rows, grass  and  flowers,  leaves  and  seed,  money 
and  pearls.  He  gave  a  new  value  to  all  which 
men  handled.  There  is  no  great  teacher  who 
approaches  Him  in  this  use  of  common  things,  in 
the  hallowing  of  the  ways  of  men,  in  the  ennobling 
of  our  daily  life.  He  made  nature  a  constant  par- 
able, and  the  pursuits  of  men  were  continual 
object  lessons.  No  thoughtful  man  could  fail 
to  be  reminded  of  God  and  his  ways  with  men. 
The  world  of  nature  and  life  is  an  illuminated 
manuscript  written  over  with  the  truths  of  the 
Spirit. 

Plainly  all  this  is  suited  to  the  world.  There 
is  nothing  which  belongs  in  one  clime  and  not 
another.  No  age  lessens  the  value  of  his  words. 
Our  advances  in  the  principles  of  living  .are 
nothing  more  than  learning  of  Him  and  consenting 
to  live  by  his  precepts.  We  do  not  always  con- 
fess this,  but  it  is  always  true.  We  do  not 
always  know  this,  but  we  could  know  it  if  we 
would.  It  is  evident  that  here  were  wonderful 
tint  lis  with  which  to  go  into  a  restless,  discon- 
tented,   disappointed  world. 


PURPOSE  AND  METnOD   OF  CHRIST       197 

I  have  often  spoken  of  the  teachings  of  Christ. 
It  has  not  been  common  to  regard  Him  as  a 
Teacher.  It  is  remarkable  that  while  the  Greek 
word  Didaskalos  is  used  nearly  fifty  times  in  the 
Gospels  with  reference  to  Christ,  our  English 
revisers  only  twice  translate  it  Teacher  —  when 
He  Himself  says,  "  One  is  your  Teacher,"  and 
when  Nicodemus  calls  Him  "  a  Teacher  sent  from 
God."  In  all  other  places  it  is  rendered  Master,  a 
definition  not  given  in  the  best  Lexicon.  This  is 
in  accordance  with  the  English  use  of  Master, 
which  is  higher  than  that  which  prevails  in  this 
country.  Yet  very  frequently  in  the  Gospels 
Christ  is  spoken  of  as  teaching.  "  He  opened 
his  mouth  and  taught  them  "  was  true  every  day. 
His  teaching  is  spoken  of  by  that  name  in  the 
Revised  Version  of  the  Gospels,  although  this 
before  was  rendered  doctrine.  After  a  time  the 
thought  of  Christ  as  the  Teacher  lost  its  position 
in  the  minds  of  men,  and  his  work  as  Saviour 
was  made  more  prominent.  The  Teacher  dis- 
appeared from  the  ranks  of  ministers  and  the 
priest  came  forward.  This  was  long  ago,  but  the 
influence  has  remained.  In  our  own  time,  when 
some  insisted  that  his  chief  work  was  as  a  teacher, 
and  that  to  follow  his  instruction  was  all  that 
any  one  needed,  those  who  believed  that  his  work 
as  Saviour  was  of  infinitely  larger  moment  pre- 


198        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

sented  Him  as  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  and 
denied  to  his  instruction  in  itself  any  such  value 
:is  was  claimed  for  it.  As  we  see  now,  the  true 
way  was  to  receive  Him  as  Teacher,  and  then  to 
receive  the  teaching.  We  seem  to  be  recovering 
our  ground.  Our  conception  of  his  work  and  its 
result  rests  mainly  upon  Him  and  his  words. 
We  shall  give  Him  his  place  as  Teacher  and 
from  Him  learn  the  Truth  that  He  is.  His  teach- 
ings have  the  personal  character  of  which  I  have 
already  said  so  much.  They  are  the  expression 
of  his  thought,  but  more  than  that,  of  Himself, 
and  his  interest  in  them  is  original  and  strong. 
Every  parable  that  He  gave  to  the  people  was  of 
greater  concern  to  Him  than  to  them.  They 
might  disregard  his  words,  but  to  Him  they  were 
full  of  feeling.  The  Kingdom  which  He  de- 
scribed was  his  own  Kingdom.  Yet  He  valued 
it  for  this  less  than  for  the  benefits  it  would  have 
for  those  whose  happiness  was  of  more  account 
than  his  own.  The  Father  would  be  pleased  and 
i iic n  would  be  pleased  and  men  would  be  blessed, 
and  no  desire  of  his  was  to  be  in  comparison  with 
this. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  profound  significance 
which  He  gave  to  "My."  We  know  how  much 
the  word  means  to  us.  My  country,  my  friend, 
my  child,  —  the  chief  value  is  in  the  two  letters 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       199 

which  stand  for  myself.  We  blend  our  separate 
interests,  and  say  "  our,"  "  ourselves,"  and  we 
have  the  society  with  whose  well-being  our  own  is 
involved.  One  of  the  most  suggestive  sentences 
in  the  New  Testament  is  in  the  Good  Shepherd's 
words,  spoken  of  Himself,  and  containing  his 
whole  heart,  —  "  Rejoice  with  me,  for  I  have  found 
my  sheep  which  was  lost.  I  say  unto  you  that 
even  so  there  shall  be  joy  in  heaven."  Even  so,  as 
the  joy  of  the  Shepherd  who  lias  found  his  sheep ; 
the  one,  not  the  ninety  and  nine. 

We  miss  the  meaning  of  his  words  and  the 
deeds  which  attended  them  if  we  do  not  see  how 
much  they  meant  to  Him ;  that  they  were  not 
things  said  and  done  in  fulfilment  of  a  mission, 
but  were  his  own  life,  with  its  passion  and  desire. 
This  was  more  evident  at  some  times  than  at  others. 
There  was  a  day  when  the  house  in  which  He  was 
most  at  home  was  darkened  by  death.  He  came  at 
the  call  of  his  friends,  and  as  He  stood  with  them 
his  sorrow  was  too  great  for  control.  He  was 
troubled  in  spirit  and  He  wept;  not  because  this 
man  only  was  dead,  but  because  all  men  were  dying 
and  dead.  The  great  soul  sought  the  relief  which 
nature  gives.  The  Jews  said,  "  Behold,  how  He 
loved  him."  They  had  no  conception  of  the  love 
which  then  held  all  sorrowing  hearts  in  its  compas- 
sion, and  kept  their  sorrow  for  his  own.     He  said  in 


200        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

words  which  are  simply  like  Himself,  "  Come  unto 
Me,  and  I  will  give  you  rest."  One  may  be  par- 
doned for  thinking  of  the  young  Buddha,  and 
remembering  how  tenderly  the  way  was  prepared 
for  him  when  he  would  walk  abroad.  No  cripple 
should  show  himself  out  of  doors  lest  the  prince 
be  grieved.  No  fallen  leaf  should  remain  upon 
the  ground ;  there  should  be  no  hint  of  pain  and 
death.  "  Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 
heavy  laden."  The  rest  He  gave  was  his  own. 
He  went  without  it  that  He  might  bestow  it.  I 
suppose  if  we  were  all  asked  what  is  the  deepest 
and  strongest  teaching  He  gave  to  weary,  suf- 
fering men,  we  should  answer,  "The  parable  of 
the  prodigal  son."  The  name  is  of  our  mak- 
ing, not  his.  Rutherford  called  it  "  The  forlorn 
son."  Both  names  are  true.  I  think  it  might  well 
be  called  "The  recovered  son."  But  whatever 
name  best  pleases  us,  the  parable  itself  expresses 
<>n  the  Father's  side  the  feeling  of  Him  who 
taught  it.  Over  the  wandering  He  sorrowed  in 
greal  sadness.  The  affliction  in  a  far  country  lay 
upon  his  heart.  He  waited  and  watched  for  the 
return.  Nay,  lie  did  not  tell  it  all.  He  went 
down  where  the  boy  was,  and  entreated  him,  and 
brought  liim  home,  and  gave  to  him  the  ring  and 
the  shoes,  and  another  chance  to  live.  Every  line 
is  full  of  his  feeling.     This  is  his  life.     He  seeks 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST        201 

and  He  saves.  Not  one  only,  but  all  wanderers, 
all  prodigals,  He  takes  upon  his  heart,  and  He 
clothes  them  at  his  own  cost,  with  the  best  robe, 
for  He  has  no  other.  Every  prodigal  is  called  and 
shall  be  welcomed.  His  arms  are  strong  enough, 
his  heart  is  large  enough,  to  hold  every  one  of 
them.  He  is  willing  to  be  lifted  up  from  the 
earth,  if  He  may  draw  all  men  to  Himself.  The 
reason  of  his  delight  is  in  Himself,  and  it  speaks 
in  the  same  two  letters  —  "  This  my  son." 

In  all  his  life  Christ  is  the  reality.  He  does  not 
declare  it  or  represent  it.  He  is  the  real.  He  is 
divine  wisdom  and  love.  We  have  the  verities 
when  we  have  Him.  They  show  themselves,  not 
becoming,  but  coming  where  they  can  be  known 
of  men.  They  are  substantial  and  permanent. 
They  are  not  handled,  although  the  forms  they 
assume  may  be  touched.  Christ  was  continually 
presenting  the  reality,  and  letting  it  be  seen  in 
contrast  with  that  which  had  borne  the  name. 
One  day  men  spoke  to  Him  of  the  manna,  and 
called  it  bread  from  heaven.  He  replied  that  was 
not  real  bread.  It  seemed  so  to  your  fathers,  but 
bread  itself  is  very  different  from  that.  "  My 
Father  giveth  you  the  true  bread  from  heaven.  I 
am  the  bread  of  life."  It  is  as  if  He  had  said, 
"  The  manna  is  an  imitation."  Again  He  spoke 
of  the  vine.    Vines  were  to  be  seen  everywhere  j 


202        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

possibly  they  ran  over  the  window  of  the  room 
where  He  was,  or  climbed  beside  the  outer  door. 
Those  are  not  real,  He  said,  they  are  illustrations  ; 
they  are  like  the  carvings  on  the  wall  and  about 
the  pillars.  "I  am  the  true  vine."  The  purpose 
of  a  vine  He  alone  could  fulfil.  The  grapes  men 
plucked  might  indeed  be  refreshing.  But  He 
would  give  the  true  refreshment  which  the  souls 
of  men  could  receive.  The  sun  was  in  the  heav- 
ens. 1  »ut  Me  was  the  true  light.  "  I  am  the  Truth," 
II.'  said.  He  was  "full  of  grace  and  truth." 
"  Grace  and  truth  came  "  by  Him.  But  there  was 
more  than  this.  He  was  more  than  true,  even 
"  the  Truth."  He  said  that  He  did  not  know  the 
day  or  the  hour  when  the  Son  of  Man  should 
come.  That  was  a  matter  of  knowledge  which 
here  He  did  not  need  to  have.  But  the  coming 
itself,  the  truth  within  the  time,  He  knew.  He 
said,  "I  will  come  again."  "Heaven  and  earth 
shall  pass  away,  but  my  word  shall  not  pass  away." 
The  distinction  between  teaching  the  truth  and 
being  the  Truth  is  not  one  of  words.  He  meant 
to  assert  the  completeness  of  his  being,  its  suf- 
ficiency, its  finality.  It  was  not  a  representation, 
I »ut  that  which  other  things  represented.  He 
would  have  approved  the  words  written  long  after- 
ward by  one  of  his  friends,  "The  things  which 
are  Been  are  temporal;  but  the  things  which  are 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       203 

not  seen  are  eternal."  Truth  is  spiritual.  The 
true  things  are  everlasting.  It  is  only  when  we 
keep  this  in  mind  that  we  understand  Him.  The 
truth  which  God  is  stands  in  Him,  that  it  may  do 
the  work  of  God.  It  does  not  throw  off  a  portion 
of  itself  and  give  this  a  man's  form,  and  name.  It 
reveals  itself,  and  there  is  no  break  between  the 
truth  here  and  that  which  is  beyond  our  sight.  It 
has  been  well  said  that  u  you  cannot  draw  a  fence 
through  the  great  ocean  of  infinity."  You  can- 
not divide  the  truth.  We  may  attempt  this  by 
our  definitions,  but  it  must  always  fail.  We  are 
fortunate  if  we  are  not  drowned  in  the  effort  to 
set  the  posts  !  Truth  is  one  and  eternal !  "  I 
am  the  Truth,"  He  said. 

His  life  becomes  simple  when  we  receive  his 
own  account  of  Himself,  and  see  that  He  is  con- 
trolled by  the  life  which  He  is.  "  I  am  the  Life," 
He  said.  "  I  give  eternal  life."  There  is  but  one 
life.  It  took  his  Personality  with  it,  and  around 
it,  so  far  as  this  was  possible.  He  lived  therefore 
in  two  worlds ;  or,  rather,  He  lived  in  both  parts 
of  the  one  world,  in  the  seen  and  the  unseen. 
There  is  no  line  between  them  in  his  thought. 
He  lived  among  men,  sat  at  their  table,  sailed 
in  their  boat,  rested  in  their  tomb.  He  talked 
with  men,  blessed  their  children,  filled  their  nets. 
This  was  evident  and   actual.     Yet  He  told  them 


204       PURPOSE  AND  METHOD  OF  CHRIST 

this :  "  The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  Himself,  bnt 
what  He  seeth  the  Father  doing  ;  for  what  things 
soever  He  doeth,  these  the  Son  also  doeth  in  like 
manner."  If  once  we  can  receive  such  words  as 
these,  and  not  be  offended  in  them,  we  shall  know 
that  here  is  the  presence  of  the  Truth  which  is 
recalling  and  regaining  the  world. 

How  very  simple  the  works  of  Christ  become 
in  the  presence  of  his  reality !  The  most  strik- 
ing of  them  we  call  miracles,  which  is  a  poor  and 
misleading  name.  They  are  described  as  "  signs," 
and  this  suggests  their  character.  They  were 
works  performed  for  the  profit  of  men.  But  they 
did  more  than  secure  the  immediate  advantage, 
for  they  bore  witness  to  the  power  which  wrought 
them  and  was  not  exhausted.  As  they  are  often 
regarded,  they  lack  the  true  element,  for  the 
power  does  not  begin  nor  the  result  end  as  we 
suppose.  Each  sign  comes  out  of  the  past  and 
is  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  benefits  to  be  given 
and  received.  In  each  one  He  strives  to  get  such 
hold  upon  a  man  that  He  can  help  him  thoroughly, 
and  in  any  world,  and  forever.  He  could  always 
do  more  and  greater  things.  The  works  bear 
ilic  marks  of  self-restraint.  AVhy  was  there  any 
pause7  They  were  entirely  natural  to  Him,  be- 
cause  He  was  in  nowise  limited  by  the  regula- 
tions of  the  world.     He  was  spirit  and  life,  and 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       205 

things  and  forces  must  consent  to  his  control. 
Physical  nature  was  under  the  power  of  the  Spirit. 
It  had  been  so  in  the  creation  and  always  after- 
ward. It  was  of  importance  then,  as  it  is  to-day, 
that  this  should  be  asserted.  Men  needed  to 
know  their  independence  of  the  world.  They 
needed  to  see  about  them,  and  to  feel  within 
them,  a  power  greater  than  that  which  prevailed 
in  the  course  of  nature.  Even  if  they  were 
obliged  for  a  time  to  submit  to  the  forces  around 
them,  it  was  well  to  feel  that  they  might  be- 
come free.  Men  had  been  known  to  worship  the 
forms  and  powers  of  nature.  It  resulted  in  evil. 
The  best  way  to  break  up  this  custom  was  to 
show  the  subjection  of  these  divinities  of  the  air 
and  the  sea.  Here  was  one  who  could  govern 
them,  and  He  spoke  in  the  name  of  God.  It  was 
an  advance  for  men  to  find  themselves  greater 
than  their  divinities,  because  they  were  spirit. 
This  had  been  said  before,  but  Christ  told  it 
again,  and  repeatedly,  and  in  many  ways,  that 
men  might  see  the  greater  power,  and  seeing  it  in 
Him  find  it  in  themselves.  Because  He  belonged 
to  both  worlds,  especially  to  the  world  of  the 
Spirit,  all  his  works  were  simple,  and  readily 
performed.  They  were  signs  of  his  own  nature. 
They  were  samples,  specimens,  of  the  real  work 
which  He  was  to  do.     They  were  his  assurance 


206        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

of  a  time  when  there  would  be  no  men  blind,  or 
lame,  or  dead.  If  the  small  acts  convinced  them 
of  his  truth  they  could  trust  Him  for  the  more 
important  works  which  were  needed,  which  should 
entirely  deliver  men  from  the  world  and  the  flesh 
into  the  liberty  of  the  sons  of  God.  The  words 
of  the  Gospel  are  thorough  and  vigorous.  "  As 
many  as  received  Him,  to  them  gave  He  the  right 
to  become  children  of  God,  even  to  them  that  be- 
lieve on  his  name  ;  which  were  born,  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man, 
but  of  God."  This  was  to  be  here.  The  two 
worlds  were  together,  the  world  of  the  seen  and 
of  the  unseen ;  or,  in  terms  which  were  afterward 
familiar,  the  world  of  nature  and  of  grace. 

A  miracle  comes  from  the  influence  of  the  spir- 
itual world,  when  it  is  brought  to  bear  upon  the 
world  of  things.  It  has  been  said  that  it  "  stands 
for  the  mystery  of  human  existence,"  and  is  "  the 
symbol  of  the  preeminence  of  spirit  over  nature." 
(  lnist  would  have  preferred  to  have  men  know 
Hi  in  without  these  signs;  for  spiritual  discern- 
ment  was  higher.  Yet  it  is  doubtful  if  they 
'on Id  have  known  Him  but  for  such  works  as 
arrested  their  attention,  and  made  them  believe 
that  I  !<■  was  from  God.  They  believed  because 
of  the  things  they  saw,  though  these  were  of 
less  account  than  his  own  Truth.     "  Believe  Me 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST        207 

that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the  Father  in  Me ; 
or  else  believe  Me  for  the  very  works'  sake." 
The  miracles  were  on  a  lower  plane  of  evidence 
than  the  Truth  to  which  they  gave  witness,  but 
they  were  effective.  How  much  higher  our  Lord 
rated  his  work  upon  the  spirit  is  shown  in  a  very 
striking  way  in  the  startling  assurance  He  gave 
on  his  last  night  — "  He  that  believeth  on  Me, 
the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also  ;  and  greater 
works  than  these  shall  he  do."  He  meant  that 
to  open  the  eyes  of  a  man  so  that  he  should  see 
his  father  was  less  than  to  give  him  the  vision 
of  God ;  that  to  enable  a  man  to  walk  the  streets 
was  less  than  to  persuade  him  to  walk  with  God ; 
that  even  to  raise  one  from  the  dead  was  less  than 
bringing  a  man  into  the  eternal  life  of  the  Spirit. 
So  far  from  encouraging  men  to  wonder  at  his 
power  in  the  world,  He  taught  that  they  should 
do  works  of  surpassing  value. 

He  required  faith.  This  was  not  needed  for  a 
common  miracle.  But  common  miracles  He  did 
not  care  to  work,  unless  by  means  of  them  He 
could  find  the  soul  and  make  it  whole.  This 
needed  the  soul's  consent,  and  this  was  faith.  He 
was  not  here  to  be  admired,  but  to  be  known. 
He  did  not  care  to  give  a  benefit  which  could 
be  acquired  in  some  other  way,  and  would  come 
to  an    end.      Every   work  of   mercy  was,  in  his 


208        PUB  POSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

intent,  the  seed  of  another,  and  this  process  was 
to  be  endless.  I  think  that  we  make  less  account 
of  Christ's  miracles  than  has  been  made  at  other 
times.  The  attention  has  been  more  upon  Him 
and  the  truths  which  He  taught.  Still,  we  ought 
to  regard  his  works  carefully ;  not  with  a  view  to 
their  repetition,  but  as  the  disclosure  of  his 
spiritual  place  and  dominion.  We  could  prove  his 
acts  by  surpassing  them.  Those  who  have  done 
the  "  greater  works  "  of  which  He  spoke  appear 
to  have  no  trouble  with  the  miracles  of  the 
New  Testament.  Perhaps  confidence  in  ourselves 
would  have  been  fairer  than  our  doubt  of  Him. 
Many  are  the  wonderful  works  which  are  men- 
tioned, though  not  all  are  told,  and  they  are  in 
entire  keeping  with  his  words.  They  were  so 
numerous  that  it  was  thought  needless  to  make 
the  record  of  them.  Thirty  years  afterward  they 
stood  before  the  memory  of  men  who  saw  them 
like  a  forest  of  trees  one  cannot  think  of  count- 
ing. The  latest  of  the  writers  went  so  far  as  to 
say  that  it'  all  the  things  which  Jesus  had  done 
should  be  written,  he  supposed  that  the  world 
itself  would  not  contain  the  books.  Reading  the 
memoirs  as  one  reads  any  book,  it  is  more  than 
difficult  to  regard  these  unnumbered  signs  as 
the  invention  of  such  men  as  were  his  friends, 
and    gave    their   life   to  Him   whom    they  knew 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD  OF  CHRIST       209 

as  Truth;  who  told  what  they  saw  and  heard, 
as  one  of  them  said,  that  others  might  have 
fellowship  with  them.  Such  signs  need  very 
clear  evidence,  and  we  should  question  the 
witnesses,  their  truthfulness  and  intelligence. 
This  is  the  part  of  prudence.  But  when  all  the 
testimony  is  given  which  the  nature  of  the  case 
makes  possible,  and  when  the  evidence  is  sure 
enough  to  be  accepted  in  regard  to  events  less 
unusual,  something  better  than  denial,  or  incre- 
dulity, may  fairly  be  asked  of  us.  We  have 
come  to  believe  too  many  things  which  at  first 
seemed  beyond  belief  to  be  hastily  turned  from 
anything  which  brings  to  us  reasonable  creden- 
tials. There  have  been  too  many  surprises  in 
our  time  to  warrant  a  careless  unbelief.  The 
scientific  method  and  spirit  are  alone  proper. 
Look,  question,  decide,  search,  find,  determine. 
To  settle  it  beforehand  with  ourselves  that  cer- 
tain things  cannot  be  done  is  not  the  road  to 
knowledge.  The  time  for  that  conceit  has  gone 
by.  The  unusual  is  not  of  necessity  the  difficult. 
The  quality  of  a  miracle  is  in  its  strangeness,  not 
in  the  force  which  it  needs.  It  requires  no  more 
of  wisdom  or  skill  than  a  hundred  things  to  which 
we  are  accustomed.  If  it  needs  our  effort  to  be- 
lieve, it  should  need  effort  to  rule  the  miracle 
out  of  the  works  of  God.     It  is  hard  to  believe, 


210        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRTST 

when  one  thinks  upon  it,  that  the  Almighty  has 
done  his  last  work,  and  that  thenceforth  all  is 
repetition ;  that  the  world,  and  the  universe,  are 
but  a  mechanism,  which  is  to  pursue  only  its 
unvarying  round.  Who  shall  say  that  God  has 
thus  mortgaged  Himself  to  his  past,  and  denied 
Himself  the  pleasure  of  doing  a  new  thing,  of 
using  a  new  method,  of  meeting  any  event  of  life 
in  any  way  which  He  chooses?  To  deny  the 
possibility  of  a  miracle  is  strangely  to  limit  the 
Almighty.  We  talk  of  the  laws  of  nature  as  if 
they  were  statutes.  Nature  does  not  legislate. 
What  we  thus  name  laws  are  but  the  Creator's 
methods,  and  these  are  forces,  not  fetters.  Be 
very  sure  that  when  the  Maker  of  heaven  and 
earth  wishes  to  work  in  a  new  way  He  will  do  it. 
It  is  at  great  times,  at  some  eventful  point,  that 
history  has  the  record  of  such  variation  from  his 
custom.  The  creation  was  new.  Strange  works 
attended  the  delivery  of  Israel  from  Egypt.  They 
marked  the  coming  of  the  Lord  and  the  coming 
of  his  Kingdom.  They  were  not  more  grand  or 
more  divine  than  the  events  they  stood  among. 

I  have  lingered  upon  the  works  of  Christ  longer 
than  I  intended.  I  leave  them  as  a  part  of  the 
fourfold  record  of  his  life.  The  story  is  simply 
told,  as  if  the  writers  had  long  since  ceased  to 
be  surprised  by  them.     In  the  thirty  years  which 


PUBPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       211 

preceded  the  writing  they  had  come  to  know 
Him  better,  and  their  increased  knowledge  shows 
itself  in  their  steadiness  of  mind  and  their  as- 
sured confidence.  Long  and  full  of  events  were 
the  years  between  the  day  when  St.  John  took 
the  mother  of  Jesus  to  his  home,  and  the  day 
when  as  an  old  man  he  wrote  out  his  remem- 
brance of  One  who  loved  him.  Time  may  have 
had  something  to  do  with  the  quietness  and 
naturalness  of  the  narrations  of  the  three  years 
which  Jesus  spent  among  men,  going  about  doing 
good. 

The  works  are  incidents  in  the  life.  They  be- 
long in  a  life  which  moves  with  even  flow  from 
the  beginning.  Let  them  be  judged  in  their 
place,  and  with  the  company  they  keep;  by  the 
reason  for  them  and  the  result  from  them.  The 
works  confirm  his  authority  and  establish  his 
teaching.     They  are  the  signs  of  larger  gifts. 

Before  we  leave  this  simple  account  of  the  life 
of  Christ  it  is  necessary  that  we  dwell  for  a  mo- 
ment upon  two  facts  which  have  a  place  of  impor- 
tance in  his  teaching.  The  first  is  prayer.  It  is 
true  that  this  did  not  begin  with  Him.  It  is  em- 
bodied in  the  entire  system  of  religion  which  is 
taught  in  the  Bible.  He  found  it.  He  learned 
it  in  his  home  at  Nazareth.  He  taught  his  dis- 
ciples to  find  comfort  and  strength  in  it.     There 


212        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

were  times  when  He  spent  a  whole  night  in 
prayer.  It  is  clear  that  He  depended  upon  it. 
It  is  equally  clear  that  He  expected  his  apostles 
to  depend  upon  it.  He  would  not  have  made 
them  his  messengers  save  as  He  knew  that  they 
would  pray,  and  in  prayer  obtain  the  grace  and 
light  they  needed.  But  what  was  prayer  as  He 
taught  it  ?  It  was  a  spiritual  act.  It  was  the  in- 
tercourse of  the  soul  with  God.  There  was  asking, 
but  there  was  much  more.  There  was  the  being 
consciously  in  the  presence  of  God.  The  voice 
presents  requests ;  but  there  is  more  than  requests. 
If  I  may  quote  my  own  words,  "  The  better  part 
of  prayer  is  not  the  asking,  but  the  kneeling  where 
we  can  ask,  the  resting  there,  the  stopping  there, 
drawing  out  the  willing  moments  in  heavenly 
communion  with  God,  within  the  closet,  with 
the  night  changed  into  the  brightness  of  the  day 
by  the  light  of  Him  who  all  the  night  was  in 
prayer  to  God."  Surely,  the  soul  would  have 
strength  which  should  thus  wait  at  the  source  of 
strength. 

Requests  are  made  and  answered  ;  sometimes 
as  we  wish,  and  sometimes  with  changes  and  de- 
lays. But  there  is  no  delay  in  blessing  the  soul 
which,  at  leisure  from  itself,  waits  with  God; 
and  He  knew  that  with  it  men  could  be  trusted  to 
do  all  which  He  would  have  them  do.     Tins  is  an 


PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       213 

essential  part  of  his  teaching,  and  cannot  be  taken 
from  the  truth  and  duty  which  He  gave. 

More  things  are  wrought  by  prayer 

Than  this  world  dreams  of ;  for  what  were  men, 

If,  knowing  God,  they  lift  not  hands  of  prayer 

Both  for  themselves  and  those  who  call  them  friend  ? 

For  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 

Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God. 

The  second  fact  to  which  allusion  was  made  is 
the  Sabbath.  This  also  did  not  begin  with  Him. 
It  is  conspicuous  in  the  religious  life  of  his  people, 
from  a  time  before  the  giving  of  the  Law  on  Siani. 
He  found  the  day,  and  kept  it  holy  when  a  boy 
in  Nazareth,  and  in  the  years  which  brought  Him 
on  to  manhood.  When  He  began  his  teaching 
the  day  which  was  made  for  man  had  become 
oppressive.  The  rules  and  customs  which  had 
gathered  about  it  would  have  seemed  ludicrous 
had  they  not  been  so  heavy  a  burden  at  a  time 
which  was  meant  for  gladness.  He  did  not  abol- 
ish the  day,  or  release  men  from  a  sacred  regard 
for  it.  But  He  set  the  day  free.  He  delivered 
it,  and  restored  it  to  its  own  meaning.  In  all 
this  He  made  it  plain  that  He  did  not  intend 
to  do  away  with  the  Sabbath.  A  man  does  not 
restore  a  building  which  he  intends  in  a  few  days 
to  destroy.  The  changes  which  Christ  wrought 
are  a  witness  to  his  purpose  to  have  the  day  kept 


214        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

alter  its  original  design.  Under  the  direction  of 
his  apostles  the  first  day  of  the  week  took  the 
place  of  the  seventh,  and  was  the  day  of  sacred 
delight,  the  "sweet  day  of  rest,"  the  weekly 
Easter  with  its  celebration  of  the  Resurrection  of 
Christ.  It  may  be  regarded,  then,  as  having  a 
fixed  place  in  the  teaching  of  Christ.  It  is  to  be 
a  day  of  rejoicing.  We  are  released  from  work; 
we  are  set  free  from  the  round  of  daily  duties, 
that  the  soul  may  have  its  opportunity,  and  that 
we  may  quietly  foster  and  enjoy  our  faith  and 
love  in  worship,  in  meditation,  in  communion, 
in  all  which  makes  us  more  spiritual,  more  Divine. 
This  is  Christ's  intent.  It  is  obvious  that  the 
more  nearly  we  can  keep  the  day  according  to  his 
desire  the  richer  its  hours  will  be  ;  the  closer  our 
walk  with  God,  the  firmer  our  purpose  to  be  like 
Him;  the  more  nearly  perfect  our  peace  and  joy, 
the  sanctity  of  our  spirit,  the  divinity  of  our  life. 
It  was  in  the  knowledge  of  Himself  as  the 
Truth,  as  belonging  in  two  worlds,  that  we  have 
the  explanation  of  his  life.  It  is  in  this  that 
its  peculiar  value  consists.  It  is  vain  to  compare 
Him  with  others  who  have  lived,  and  to  find  re- 
semblances  to  his  teachings  and  his  works.  The 
more  resemblances  of  this  kind  which  we  can  dis- 
cover  the  better  is  it  for  the  world.  But  He  stands 
alone,  in  his  own  consciousness,  and  in  his  constant 


PURPOSE  AND   METHOD   OF  CHRIST        215 

teaching,  and  in  the  purpose  of  his  life  as  He  de- 
clared it.  He  alone  lives  as  the  embodiment  of 
the  love  which  God  is.  His  first  relation  is  with 
God,  and  this  is  never  changed.  Keeping  this,  He 
comes  really  into  the  world,  that  the  love  which 
He  is  may  become  life  for  men.  It  is  thus  that 
He  teaches  and  helps ;  thus  that  he  gives  his  life 
—  "I  have  power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power 
to  take  it  again."  It  is  thus  that  He  claims  all 
sheep,  all  sinners,  as  his  own,  and  seeks  them 
that  He  may  save  them ;  thus  that  He  goes  into 
the  far  country  that  He  may  bring  home  the  prod- 
igal, his  own  prodigal.  All  this  God  would  do. 
It  belongs  in  our  idea  of  God.  It  is  in  his  Son 
that  He  does  it.  The  great  desire,  full  of  pity  and 
love,  the  great  longing  for  his  own ;  the  Divine 
goodness  and  grace  which  encircle  the  earth  and 
sweep  through  the  ages  ;  the  almightiness  which 
is  informed  with  compassion,  and  cannot  rest, 
but  will  have  its  own,  —  all  the  heart  of  God 
finds  men  where  they  are,  and  is  faithful  to  love, 
mighty  to  save.  "  He  will  abundantly  pardon." 
But  the  heart  of  God  among  men  bears  the  name 
which  was  given  by  the  angel  —  "  Jesus ; "  and 
the  other,  which  is  "  God  with  us."  We  are  out 
of  the  range  of  philosophy.  This  is  Truth.  He 
does  not  simply  reveal  God.  He  is  really  the 
Love  of  God. 


216        PURPOSE  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST 

Of  course  the  world  did  not  receive  Him.  He 
was  despised  and  rejected  by  those  who  saw  only 
tilth  own  disappointment  in  Him.  At  last  He 
was  crucified.  But  He  said  repeatedly  that  He 
should  not  be  holclen  of  death.  He  was  the 
stronger.  On  the  third  day  He  appeared  among 
men.  They  saw  Him  and  knew  that  it  was  He. 
Many  saw  Him.  The  faith  which  had  been 
rudely  shaken  was  quickly  restored.  For  a  few 
weeks  He  remained  among  his  friends,  then  He 
returned  into  the  skies.  The  account  is  given 
with  brevity  and  simplicity.  Upon  the  fact  of  the 
Resurrection  his  disciples  rested  their  lives  and 
based  their  ministry.  They  lived  in  the  knowledge 
of  it,  and  many  sealed  their  devotion  with  their 
lives.  To  the  closing  events  of  Christ's  life  his 
disciples  attached  the  chief  significance.  These 
stand  highest  in  their  thought.  They  preached 
them  as  the  centre  and  heart  of  their  message  to  the 
world.  It  is  evident  that  there  was  a  profound 
meaning  in  the  death  of  the  Truth  and  the  Life. 
I  know  that  Life  and  Truth  cannot  die.  But  the 
body  in  which  they  lived  could  die.  For  Him, 
then,  to  consent  to  be  obedient  to  death,  when  He 
could  have  avoided  it  easily,  was  a  fact  before 
which  it  becomes  us  to  be  still.  It  is  clear  from  his 
own  teaching  that  He  intended  to  find  his  sheep 
and   liis  sons  by  the  way  of  the  cross.     This  He 


PUTtPOSB  AND  METHOD   OF  CHRIST       217 

has  done.  This  was  the  understanding  of  the 
apostles,  and  by  this  rule  they  ordered  their  min- 
istry, and  gained  the  world  for  Him.  As  often  as 
we  contemplate  the  close  of  his  life,  let  us  find  the 
meaning  of  it  in  Himself;  not  in  the  cross,  but 
in  the  Truth  which  uses  it. 
I  am  the  Truth,  He  said. 


V 

THE  CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  THE  HANDS  OF  MEN 


THE   CAUSE  OF   CHRIST   IN   THE 
HANDS  OF   MEN 


I  have  written  at  length  of  the  Person  in 
whom  the  Creator  and  Father  of  men  seeks  to 
recall  them  to  their  true  life ;  to  give  them  again 
of  his  own  life.  Has  his  purpose  been  accom- 
plished? As  we  advance,  and  see  Him  in  the 
world  and  mark  his  influence,  is  it  clear  that 
the  Divine  thought  is  being  fulfilled?  While  his 
work  is  not  completed  at  any  point,  it  has  gone 
far  enough  for  an  intelligent  opinion  of  its  merit 
and  promise.  It  is  not  possible  to  see  all  that  He 
has  done,  because  much  of  it  is  in  the  hearts  of 
men,  in  their  character,  their  motives  and  inten- 
tions, their  inclinations  and  affections,  and  the 
disclosure  of  these  is  imperfect.  We  know  what 
He  has  done  for  us,  and  in  some  measure  what 
He  has  done  for  others.  With  the  necessary 
limitation  of  our  knowledge,  there  is  abundant 
and  conclusive  evidence  regarding  the  effect  of 
Christianity  upon  men;  upon  society  and  its 
institutions;  upon  literature,    science,  art:  upon 


- 


222      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

tlic  home  and  the  school ;  upon  the  woman  and 
the  child  ;  upon  charity  and  all  the  virtues  ;  upon 
life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  In 
tracing  the  course  of  his  life  upon  the  earth  we 
are  to  keep  always  in  mind  the  Personality  of 
Christ.  It  was  this  which  He  gave  to  the  world 
—  Himself.  k4 1  am  "  stands  before  his  teaching 
and  the  works  which  attended  it.  He  was  in  the 
sifts  which  He  bestowed.  Buddhism  could  live 
without  Buddha.  Christianity  is  impossible  with- 
out Christ.  He  is  the  breath,  the  soul,  the  life, 
of  the  truth.  He  is  the  Love  which  loves  men 
into  love. 

The  men  whom  He  called  to  be  disciples  and 
then  Apostles  were  held  to  Him  by  personal 
devotion.  The  readiness  with  which  they  left  all 
to  follow  Him  is  a  witness  to  the  power  which 
was  his.  He  had  nothing  to  offer  them  of  earthly 
reward ;  He  insisted  upon  their  humility ;  He 
told  them  that  they  could  not  be  his  disciples 
unless  they  denied  themselves,  and  took  up  their 
cross  ;  He  spoke  to  them  of  his  own  death,  and  of 
the  tribulation  they  would  have  in  the  world ;  at 
last  He  gave  Himself  to  the  cross,  and  died,  and 
was  entombed.  But  they  were  not  moved  from 
Him,  save  one,  who  in  a  "desperate  self-respect" 
fled  from  the  world  where  there  seemed  to  be  no 
place  for  him.     Confused  they  were,  the  eleven 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS  OF  MEN      223 

men  who  were  the  disciples ;  disappointed,  deso- 
late, stricken ;  but  they  kept  their  faith  in  Him 
and  waited  for  that  which  was  to  come.  What 
held  them  ?  The  Love  which  drew  them.  It  was 
a  wonderful  power  which  Christ  had.  I  do  not 
call  it  supernatural,  for  it  was  of  Himself.  He 
called  them  and  there  was  power  in  his  words. 
The  voice,  the  look,  the  whole  presence,  drew 
them  to  Him.  They  were  not  poor  men,  weak 
men ;  but  men  well-to-do,  substantial  citizens  of 
the  North  country,  who  proved  afterward  that 
they  could  teach  their  own  people  and  the  world ; 
and  their  word  has  gone  out  into  all  the  earth. 
Nothing  in  our  libraries  is  so  precious  as  their 
writings.  They  could  bear  all  things,  even  to 
martyrdom,  and  die  in  exultation,  and  leave  their 
names  for  adoration.  It  was  the  perfect  Love 
which  called  them ;  the  Love  which  is  the  strong- 
est, Divinest  thing  known  in  heaven,  and  which 
was  incarnate  in  Him.  It  attracted,  persuaded, 
compelled,  the  men  whose  hearts  it  reached,  whose 
love  could  recognize  the  eternal  Love  and  be 
taken  into  it  and  held  there,  so  that  the  power  of 
the  Divine  Love  should  be  around  them,  keeping 
and  guiding;  inspiring  them  for  the  life  of  love 
which  was  to  follow  his,  and  be  his  and  theirs. 
If  I  knew  what  the  perfect  Love  is  I  could 
better    tell    how   it    found    these    hearts    which 


224      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

Love  had  made,  and  pleased  itself  and  them. 
Were  they  not  of  one  nature  with  Him  who  came 
fco  their  boats,  and  filled  their  nets,  and  made 
them  fishers  of  men  ?  They  loved  because  they 
were  first  loved.  The  Love  of  Christ  constrained 
them.  It  made  them  the  men  whom  Christ 
needed,  whom  the  Love  of  God  needed,  for  a 
ministry  which  must  begin  and  end  in  love.  We 
like  the  answer  of  these  men  to  the  call  of  Christ. 
1 1  was  so  hearty,  and  simple,  and  trusting ;  not 
hindered  by  question,  or  despoded  by  delay.  "And 
He  called  them.  And  they  immediately  left  the 
ship  and  their  father,  and  followed  Him."  It  was 
great  confidence  in  Him.  But  this  is  not  more 
to  be  admired  than  his  confidence  in  them. 

Let  us  think  of  the  meaning  of  his  life  ;  of  the 
magnificent  purpose  and  expectation  in  which  He 
was  to  give  his  life,  to  be  lifted  up  that  He 
might  draw  all  men  to  Himself.  Yet  after  his 
crucifixion  He  went  no  more  among  strangers, 
and  soon  He  returned  to  heaven.  Who  were  to 
take  up  his  ministry  and  carry  it  through  the 
lands  which  had  not  heard  his  name?  These 
men,  who  for  a  few  months  had  walked  with  Him 
and  learned  of  Him,  —  by  these  his  word  and 
work  were  to  be  preserved  and  extended  till  every 
man  should  hear  of  Him.  They  knew  Him,  and 
they  were  ready  to  do  anything  at  his  bidding. 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN   HANDS   OF  MEN      225 

He  knew  them  and  He  trusted  all  to  them.  I 
think  this  is  the  largest  instance  of  faith  in  the 
history  of  the  world.  If  they  failed  Him,  his 
cause  was  at  an  end.  The  cross  would  be  the 
headstone  at  its  grave.  He  knew  they  would  not 
fail  Him,  for  his  love  held  their  hearts.  I  think 
of  Nelson's  signal  as  the  battle  of  Trafalgar  was 
to  begin  —  "  England  confides  that  every  man 
will  do  his  duty."  —  "I  have  no  signal  for  con- 
fides," the  officer  said.  "  May  I  not  say  expects  ?  " 
Nelson  consented,  but  his  own  word  was  the 
better,  with  more  heart  in  it,  —  "  England  con- 
fides." The  words  express  as  well  as  words  can, 
fittingly,  beautifully,  the  thought  of  Christ  when 
his  hour  had  come.  He  confided  that  every  man 
would  do  his  duty.  Every  man  did.  It  is  a  tes- 
timony to  them,  but  even  more  to  Him.  It  was 
well  written  by  one  who  joined  them  — "  The 
greatest  is  love." 

After  his  resurrection,  and  a  little  time  before 
his  withdrawal  from  these  disciples,  Christ  met 
seven  of  them  by  the  sea  of  Galilee,  where  He 
helped  them  fill  the  nets  which  all  the  night  had 
been  spread  in  vain,  and  gave  them  a  lesson  in 
trust  which  could  not  be  forgotten.  When  He 
had  given  them  to  eat  of  fish  which  had  not  been 
brought  in  their  net,  —  the  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
fourth,  —  He  asked  one  of  the  little  group,  who 


226      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

had  been  in  some  degree  a  leader  among  them,  if 
he  loved  Him.  Three  times  He  asked.  He  was 
asking  all  the  men  through  one.  It  was  the  ques- 
tion of  the  future.  Everything  depended  upon 
the  answer.  There  was  nothing  to  hold  them  but 
Love,  their  love  living  in  his.  The  reply  contented 
Him,  and  He  ordained  them  to  the  care  of  his 
sheep  and  lambs  ;  for  He  was  the  Good  Shepherd, 
and  a  shepherd.  King,  as  his  ancestor  had  been. 
After  this  He  was  with  them  in  Jerusalem  where 
He  bade  them  wait  till  they  should  receive  power  ; 
for  they  were  to  be  witnesses  to  Him  "  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and  unto 
the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth."  It  was  a  con- 
fidence in  the  truth,  and  in  these  men  whom  He 
loved,  which  was  like  Himself.  At  last  He  led 
them  to  the  mount  called  Olivet,  and  from  there 
ascended  to  the  glory  which  He  had  before  the 
world  was.  The  end  was  in  keeping  with  the 
beginning. 

The  friends  returned  to  the  city,  as  they  had 
been  told  to  do.  They  were  but  few  in  number, 
and  were  unnoticed.  They  would  have  been 
oppressed  with  a  strange  loneliness  but  for  the 
assurance  that  He  would  be  with  them  still.  He 
would  be  close  enough  to  help  them,  while  they 
would  be  allowed  a  true  liberty.  They  had  the 
promise  of  the  Holy  Spirit  whom  He  would  send. 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN      227 

They  waited  by  themselves,  living  over  the  three 
years  of  their  discipleship,  and  the  last  days  of 
sadness  and  triumph.  In  an  upper  room,  where 
their  home  was  for  a  time,  they  turned  their 
minds  heavenward  and  prayed  for  the  power 
from  above.  They  needed  it.  There  were  a  few 
who  shared  their  hope,  and  among  these  was 
"  Mary,  the  mother  of  Jesus,"  "  blessed  among 
women."  Think  on  the  course  of  the  world 
since  that  time  !  Has  there  ever  been  gathered 
council  or  congress  which,  for  dignity  and  solem- 
nity, could  compare  with  that  ?  They  waited. 
It  was  like  a  ship  with  her  sails  set,  watching  for 
the  breeze.  The  world  was  waiting  for  the  com- 
ing power,  though  it  knew  it  not.  It  was  waiting 
for  those  unregarded  men  —  men  of  faith,  with 
a  history ;  men  firm  by  nature  and  training ; 
holding  to  the  ancestral  belief  and  hope ;  mem- 
bers of  a  religious  nation.  They  had  not  been 
asked  to  change  their  faith,  and  they  were  not  to 
ask  their  countrymen.  Judaism  had  not  pro- 
duced Christianity,  but  it  was  fulfilled  in  it.  The 
Gentile  religions,  which  were  as  little  able  to 
produce  the  new  faith  as  thistles  to  bear  figs, 
were  to  part  with  all  which  was  untrue  and  to 
receive  the  Truth  which  was  from  heaven. 
Christ  was  Himself,  and  there  was  no  one  be- 
fore Him  who  was  like   Him,  as  there  has  been 


228      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

no  one  after  Him.  These  Jews  who  had  become 
Christians  were  to  announce  that  the  Messiah 
had  come.  He  was  not  the  desire  of  the  world, 
but  He  was  infinitely  more.  This  was  to  be  said 
everywhere,  beginning  at  Jerusalem  where  He 
had  been  crucified.  The  Truth  must  go  forth 
from  the  Cross.  Out  from  that  narrow  door 
winch  was  not  far  from  Calvary  was  to  issue  the 
Love  of  God,  to  seek  and  find  its  own.  The 
Kingdom  of  heaven  was  in  that  upper  room,  wait- 
ing. The  disciples  were  indeed  in  the  presence  of 
the  King,  who  had  called  them  friends.  They  had 
no  chief,  save  as  strength  of  character  asserted 
itself.  They  were  not  organized,  save  as  a  globe 
stands  about  its  centre.  They  had  no  forms,  but 
the  form  of  spirit  and  of  truth.  The  precepts  of 
their  Teacher  were  their  laws,  and  these  could 
never  lose  control.  They  had  Christ,  and  his 
Love  held  their  love,  and  what  God  had  joined 
together  could  not  be  put  asunder. 

Their  time  came.  For  designation  it  is  called 
the  Day  of  Pentecost,  the  time  of  the  first 
fruits,  and  the  name  was  well  chosen  ;  but  Pente- 
cost had  come  a  thousand  times  before,  and  this 
•  lay  alone  is  remembered.  Strange  things  were 
seen  and  heard  in  Jerusalem.  The  promised 
power  descended  upon  the  disciples  and  those 
who  were  with  them.     It  was  a  spiritual  power, 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN   HANDS   OF  MEN      229 

giving  vigor  to  their  minds  and  hearts,  and  ena- 
bling them  to  speak  with  a  wisdom  and  force 
which  made  their  words  effective  among  the  lis- 
teners. This  was  entirely  simple,  for  it  was  the 
gift  of  the  Spirit  who  is  God  to  the  kindred 
spirit  who  is  man.  In  this  power  the  disciples 
preached.  The  result  was  that  many,  being  per- 
suaded and  enabled  by  the  Spirit,  believed  the 
Word  which  was  preached  ;  three  thousand  in 
one  day,  and  others  afterward.  It  was  the  first 
attempt  of  Christianity  to  get  into  the  world  and 
become  its  life,  and  it  was  signally  successful. 
This  was  well  called  "  Power  from  on  high." 
Under  its  influence  "  the  Lord  added  to  them 
day  by  day  those  that  were  saved  ;'  —  for  this  was 
the  designation  given  them.  It  was  in  this  form 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  that  Christ  was  henceforth  to 
be  with  his  disciples.  It  was  expedient  that  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  should  go  away.  There  was  need  of 
a  presence  more  widely  diffused,  in  all  places  at 
all  times,  which  could  readily  enter  the  spirit  of 
man  and  abide  there,  and  direct  his  thoughts  and 
enlarge  his  life.  They  had  now  the  completion  of 
the  baptismal  creed  and  confession  —  the  Father, 
the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  order  is  plainly 
declaied  in  the  New  Testament.  First  the  eternal 
Father  whom  no  man  hath  seen  ;  then  the  Son  in 
whom  God  is  revealed  to  men  ;    then  the  Holy 


230      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

Spirit  in  whom  the  Son  is  revealed  to  the  world ; 
and  there  is  one  God.  I  do  not  enter  upon  the 
theological  bearing  of  these  truths.  The  mission 
of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  definitely  set  forth.  It  con- 
nects itself  immediately  with  the  work  of  Christ, 
and  so  with  the  Love  of  the  Father.  It  is  neces- 
sary at  this  point  that  the  words  of  Christ 
concerning  the  Holy  Spirit  should  be  carefully 
marked  —  "  When  the  Comforter  is  come,  whom  I 
will  send  unto  you  from  the  Father,  even  the 
Spirit  of  truth,  which  proceedeth  from  the  Father, 
He  shall  bear  witness  of  Me."  "  He  shall  guide 
you  into  all  the  truth."  "  He  shall  glorify  Me, 
for  He  shall  take  of  Mine,  and  shall  declare  it 
unto  you."  *'  He  shall  teach  you  all  things,  and 
bring  to  your  remembrance  all  that  I  said  unto 
you."  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  this  Divine 
Presence  is  to  carry  forward  the  Love  of  the 
Father  and  the  mission  of  Christ  in  which  that 
Love  is  fulfilled.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  to  be  in 
men,  the  presence  of  God,  the  Love  of  the  Son 
of  (rod,  quickening  and  renewing  their  hearts, 
creating  them  anew  with  a  new  life.  Hence  we 
have  the  strong  words  of  the  chief  Apostle :  "  As 
many  as  are  led  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  these  are 
sons  of  God."  This  is  the  day  of  the  Holy 
Spirit. 

Thus  at  Pentecost  men  received  life.       They 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     231 

came  fully  under  the  first  Commandment,  and 
under  the  second,  for  every  man's  need  became 
another's  opportunity.  There  was  a  quick  test. 
None  lacked,  for  none  owned.  Many  tongues 
were  heard,  but  they  spoke  in  the  one  language 
of  brotherhood. 

The  new  gift  went  farther.  It  was  to  be  help- 
ful at  once.  One  of  the  Apostles,  who  had  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  his  power  in  preaching, 
attempted  his  first  independent  sign,  that  which 
we  ineffectively  call  a  miracle.  Some  experience 
had  been  granted  him  before,  in  an  apprentice 
way,  but  he  was  now  to  work  by  himself.  A  man 
lame  from  his  birth  lay  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of 
the  Temple,  and  he  looked,  as  his  wont  was,  upon 
this  disciple  and  another  Galilean,  that  he  might 
receive  alms.  The  Apostle  seized  and  held  him 
with  his  eyes,  raising  the  confidence  which  he  was 
to  disappoint.  "  I  have  no  silver  and  gold,"  he 
said,  "  but  I  will  give  you  what  I  have."  This 
was  one  of  the  marks  of  the  new  faith.  Its  min- 
isters made  no  pretence  and  offered  no  excuse. 
What  they  did  not  have  was  of  no  use  to  them  or 
to  the  world.  Taking  the  cripple  by  the  hand,  he 
lifted  him,  and  for  the  first  time  the  man  stood 
upon  his  feet.  The  surgeon  Avho  reported  the 
case  said  that  his  feet  and  ankle-bones  received 
strength.     Things  looked  well  for  the  new  cause. 


2S'2      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

One  thing  was  wanting,  and  that  was  soon  sup- 
plied, when  Herod  slew  an  Apostle  with  a  sword, 
and  proposed  to  send  another  to  the  same  fate. 
Earlier  than  this,  a  man  who  had  been  called  to 
office  in  the  society  was  stoned  for  his  boldness 
in  the  faith.  The  cause  was  now  well  on  its  way. 
Could  it  continue?  As  long  as  those  who  be- 
lieved in  it  remained  true. 

But  it  had  the  world  to  gain.  The  world  knew 
nothing  of  it ;  or,  knowing,  was  hostile  to  it.  The 
Jews  had  not  swerved  from  their  opposition, 
neither  the  leaders  nor  the  people.  Persecution 
grew  more  severe.  In  this  is  a  sign  of  the  force 
in  the  new  faith.  Strange  that  all  the  authority 
which  remained  to  the  nation  was  turned  against 
the  carpenter's  son  !  The  Nazarene  had  made  Him- 
self feared  in  high  places,  and  He  had  not  lifted 
a  hand,  and  only  one  of  his  followers  had  drawn 
a  sword.  Here  was  a  growing  influence  which 
could  not  be  reasoned  down,  and  thus  far  there 
had  been  no  force  which  could  resist  it.  Observe 
its  vitality  and  the  method  of  it,  and  think  what 
this  signifies.  It  was  a  notable  event  when  from 
its  enemies  came  its  stoutest  friend.  He  was  not 
of  Jerusalem,  which  was  in  his  favor.  Galilee 
gave  the  first  Apostles.  This  man  came  even 
farther.  The  comparative  largeness  of  provincial 
lite  was  on  his  side.     He  had  grown  up  among 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     233 

men.  He  was  a  Roman,  and  this  gave  him  posi- 
tion and  daring.  He  was  religious,  and  his  relig- 
ion was  a  reality.  He  was  a  Jew,  and  loving  his 
people  he  sprang  to  the  defence  of  the  poor  rem- 
nant of  their  liberty.  Fearless,  determined,  ag- 
gressive, he  found  his  passion  enlarged  as  he  saw 
a  good  man  stoned,  who  died  in  triumph  under 
the  open  heaven.  He  kept  the  clothes  of  the 
murderers,  and  when,  they  resumed  them  he  took 
up  their  work.  He  could  do  nothing  in  a  small 
way.  He  was  mad  exceedingly,  and  he  thought 
the  cause  justified  his  violence.  It  is  some  wit- 
ness to  the  strength  of  the  Nazarene,  as  He  was 
described,  that  He  made  Saul  of  Tarsus  angry 
through  his  whole  being.  His  madness  is  as  good 
as  a  day's  miracles,  for  evidence.  The  conver- 
sion of  the  High  Priest  would  have  meant  less. 
He  consented  to  be  taught,  and  to  be  enrolled  as 
a  disciple.  The  name  he  had  hated  became  at 
once  his  glory.  He  waited  that  he  might  find  him- 
self. He  meditated  in  Arabia  where  only  God 
could  teach  him.  He  learned  from  those  who  had 
walked  with  the  Master  of  his  life  and  his  word. 
He  confirmed  his  faith,  we  may  suppose,  by  visit- 
ing the  places  where  the  Lord  had  suffered  and 
died.  He  promptly  and  publicly  declared  him- 
self a  believer  in  the  risen  Lord,  and  then  abandon- 
ing his  profession  went  forth  to  be  the  preacher. 


234      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN   HANDS   OF  MEN 

The  more  he  taught  the  more  he  believed.  As 
the  re  is  nothing  succeeds  like  success,  so  there  is 
nothing  believes  like  belief.  A  zeal  for  Christ 
possessed  him,  greater  even  than  his  madness  had 
been.  He  cared  for  nothing  beside.  He  was  ab- 
sorbed in  his  devotion.  His  feeling  was  long 
afterward  expressed  by  his  Moravian  friend :  "  I 
have  one  passion,  and  it  is  He,  He  only."  He 
went  to  his  own  people.  He  went  beyond  them 
to  the  excluded  nations.  The  door  for  this  was 
opened  by  a  Divine  hand  when  the  word  was  car- 
ried by  another  Apostle  to  a  Roman  soldier  at 
Cesarea  who  had  commended  himself  by  his 
prayers  and  gifts.  Then  the  work  spread.  Men 
believed  wherever  they  heard.  They  were  called 
and  called  out,  and  by  this  word  were  known. 
We  have  translated  it,  which  is  a  pity.  The  faith 
was  taking  on  more  of  form.  The  adjective 
which  had  described  the  Teacher  became  a  proper 
name,  and  those  who  belonged  to  Him  were  called 
after  it,  not  by  any  appointment,  but  for  con- 
venience. They  were  called  Christians  as  their 
Master  was  Christ.  The  name  given  by  others 
grew  in  favor.  The  Apostles  went  through  their 
own  land  and  beyond  it.  St.  Paul  went  far  abroad, 
carrying  the  Good  News  of  God,  as  the  Word 
came  to  be  described.  Churches  were  formed  of 
Jews  and  Gentiles,  and  were  fostered  with  apos- 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     235 

tolic  care.  St.  Paul  visited  them  in  repeated 
journeys,  and  when  absent  wrote  to  them.  His 
letters  make  a  large  and  important  part  of  the 
early  and  the  later  Christian  literature.  They 
were  letters,  not  doctrinal  treatises.  They  estab- 
lished no  schedule  of  belief,  after  the  manner  of 
later  times.  He  taught  doctrine,  indeed,  but  not 
a  system.  All  his  letters  enforced  the  Christian 
teaching.  He  wrote  one  letter  which  is  in  the 
largest  sense  theological,  and  which  is  a  strong 
statement  of  his  belief.  This  was  to  a  church 
which  he  had  not  visited,  which  needed  a  formal 
statement  of  the  Christian  faith  that  should  serve 
as  a  constitution  at  Rome,  and  wherever  the  new 
church  at  Rome  had  influence.  This  letter  by 
no  means  contents  itself  with  belief,  but  makes 
conduct  of  essential  importance.  In  his  letters 
St.  Paul  stated  in  his  own  terms  that  which 
he  had  learned,  with  confirmation  out  of  philos- 
ophy, and  history,  and  experience.  He  added 
nothing  to  the  teaching  of  the  Master.  He  did 
not  teach  by  parable,  but  in  a  more  immediate 
and  direct  manner.  That  he  gave  form  to  the 
teaching  of  Christ  is  evident ;  but  they  are  mis- 
taken who  think  he  altered  the  teaching  itself. 
He  expanded  the  central  teaching  of  Christ,  that 
He  had  come  to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was 
lost ;    and  he  defined  the  loss,  and  the  seeking, 


236      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN   HANDS   OF  MEN 

and  the  saving.  He  taught  in  what  way  and  for 
what  reasons  the  Good  Shepherd  gave  his  life 
for  the  sheep.  He  declared  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead  in  words  which  remain  the  clearest 
exposition  of  Immortality.  He  exalted  love  and 
enforced  it  in  the  finest  sentences  ever  written 
concerning  it.  One  phrase  has  become  in  our 
time  almost  a  definition.  Not  content  with  such 
themes,  he  guided  the  churches  in  their  affairs, 
and  in  the  behavior  of  their  members.  There 
was  need  of  this,  for  many  had  brought  the  vices 
of  their  old  religion  into  the  new  faith.  They 
needed  rebuke,  warning,  entreaty,  if  any  good 
was  to  come  to  them  under  their  new  name, 
and  it  was  to  be  commended  by  their  lives.  The 
best  proof  of  Christianity  must  be  the  lives  of 
those  whom  it  controls.  It  must  show  its  power 
to  save  by  saving,  its  ability  to  create  by  creating. 
The  teacher  of  this  faith  can  never  attach  too 
much  importance  to  the  conduct  of  those  who 
hold  it.  This  is  not  a  large  fraction  of  life: 
it  is  the  whole.  The  act  of  the  will  is  as  real  as 
the  act  of  the  hand.  This  is  not  to  be  forced 
for  the  sake  of  evidence ;  but  the  religion  is  to  be 
unhindered  and  obeyed.  Let  it  show  what  it  can 
do.  Some  of  the  things  about  which  the  Apostle 
wrote  may  seem  small  for  a  man  to  be  concerned 
with  who  more  than  any  other  had  the  Kingdom  of 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     237 

God  in  his  charge.  But  it  is  the  peculiarity  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God,  that  it  concerns  itself  with 
small  things,  with  unimportant  men,  and  with  the 
actions  which  are  their  character.  It  is  a  mark 
of  Christianity  that  it  makes  the  man  of  large 
moment,  and  if  the  man  then  his  conduct.  Let 
us  remember  the  words  of  the  herald  of  the  King- 
dom :  "  He  that  hath  two  coats,  let  him  impart  to 
him  that  hath  none ;  and  he  that  hath  food,  let 
him  do  likewise."  "  Extort  no  more  than  that 
which  is  appointed  you/'  There  is  a  majesty  in 
St.  Paul's  great  pages  ;  but  I  mark  also  the  divin- 
ity of  his  small  sentences  whereby  he  seeks  to 
persuade  men  to  live  in  truth,  and  purity,  and 
charity.  He  had  learned  the  mind  of  Christ. 
This  was  his  claim  for  himself,  and  he  had  need  to 
assert  it,  for  his  right  to  preach  was  not  unchal- 
lenged. That  he  had  learned  some  things  of  St. 
Peter,  and  James  the  Lord's  brother,  he  declared. 
But  with  all  the  force  at  his  command  he  asserted 
that  the  Gospel  which  he  had  preached  he  had 
not  learned  of  man,  but  had  received  it  "  by 
the  revelation  of  Jesus  Christ."  It  was  this 
which  made  the  tremendous  energy  of  his  life,  and 
made  him  one  of  the  two  or  three  most  influential 
men  whom  the  world  has  known.  The  facts  of 
the  new  faith,  the  incidents  in  Christ's  life,  the 
teaching  which  He  gave,  could  be  readily  learned 


238      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

from  his  friends.  It  was  quite  as  simple  that  the 
spirit  of  this  should  be  given  into  his  spirit  by  the 
Spirit  of  truth  to  which  it  was  akin;  that  the 
meaning  should  be  thus  bestowed,  and  direction 
for  the  employment  of  the  teaching,  the  right 
adjustment  of  it  within  itself  and  in  the  minds 
of  men,  and  all  which  we  mean  by  inspiration, 
which  is  entirely  simple  when  one  knows  that  he 
too  is  spirit.  This  did  not  teach  him  everything, 
but  it  did  furnish  him  generously  and  truly  for 
the  work,  the  large  work,  which  he  was  to  do. 
It  left  him  a  free  man,  even  under  the  teaching 
of  the  Spirit  of  God.  Every  one  who  prays  for 
guidance  prays  for  inspiration.  When  the  reality 
of  this  is  perceived,  its  extent  offers  no  difficulty. 
Here  was  St.  Paul's  authority  with  himself  and 
the  world.  He  had  not  grown  into  the  Christian 
faith.  He  had  been  stopped  on  his  way,  and  with 
his  consent,  which  was  promptly  given,  had  been 
taken  up  into  the  Way  —  for  by  this  name  the 
new  faith  was  soon  called.  This  was  the  place, 
this  was  the  time,  from  which  Christianity  was 
reaching  out  on  its  mission.  Let  it  be  noted 
that  Christ  was  directing  it  still.  The  assertion 
of  this  abounds  in  the  records. 

We  must  not  fail  to  ask  what  Christianity  was 
at  that  time.  What  did  St.  Paul  and  the  others 
teach  ?     They  repeated  the  teaching  of  Christ  in 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN      239 

addresses  and  in  letters.  The  Apostles  did  more 
than  recite  his  words.  They  preached  Christ 
Himself.  They  did  not  merely  commend  Him 
to  the  admiration  of  men,  or  his  teaching  to 
their  belief.  They  preached  Him.  They  did 
not  teach  a  system  of  Christian  philosophy,  or 
present  a  scheme  of  Christian  conduct.  Every- 
thing was  to  be  practical  and  thorough.  Christ 
did  not  come  to  set  an  example  in  Himself,  nor 
to  give  to  the  world  a  series  of  patterns.  Ex- 
amples are  very  well  in  their  way,  but  not  inter- 
esting, and  not  very  effective.  In  giving  life 
He  provided  for  conduct,  and  He  sent  men 
out  to  live  and  give  life.  They  did  not  talk 
about  Him,  they  presented  Him.  They  sought 
to  bring  men  under  his  control.  They  knew 
that  if  men  consented  to  this,  He  would  cleanse 
their  hearts,  inform  their  minds,  direct  their 
lives.  They  sought  to  unite  each  man  to  Him, 
vitally,  spiritually,  for  wisdom  and  life.  It  was 
personal  on  both  sides.  Christ  and  the  man 
were  to  be  joined  as  vine  and  brand  1. 

We  can  come  nearer.  While  they  presented 
Christ,  the  Person,  they  laid  the  chief  stress  on 
the  close  of  his  life.  This  held  the  force  of  all 
which  was  before  it,  yet  this  stood  out  by  itself  in 
their  minds.  St.  Paul  said,  -We  preach  Christ 
crucihed.,,     His  resurrection  completed  the  work 


240      CAUSE  OF  CHBIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

of  the  Cross.  But  it  was  the  Cross  to  which  they 
drew  the  minds  of  men ;  to  Christ,  who  by  means 
of  the  Cross,  in  a  special  manner  and  degree,  gave 
his  life  for  the  world.  It  was  in  this  form  that 
the  life  of  Christ  passed  out  among  the  nations. 
It  is  not  likely  that  Constantine  saw  the  Cross  in 
the  sky.  But  the  early  Apostles  of  Christianity 
saw  it  always  before  their  minds,  and  by  this 
sign  they  thought  to  conquer  the  world.  The 
truths  preached  by  the  Apostles  and  believed 
by  the  first  Christians  are  believed  and  preached 
to-day.  The  Christian  minister  of  last  Sunday, 
if  he  had  missed  his  way  to  his  own  door,  and 
had  found  himself  in  one  of  those  early  assem- 
blies of  disciples,  which  had  prolonged  its  meet- 
ing, would  probably  have  left  his  sermon  in  its 
case,  but  could  have  talked  with  them  on  equal 
terms,  gaining  from  them  something  of  vividness, 
and  giving  to  them  something  of  experience,  but 
concurring  with  them  on  all  the  truths  which 
are  essential  to  a  Christian  life.  I  wish  I  might 
have  been  that  erring  minister ! 

Was  the  world  prepared  to  receive  this  new 
teaching?  It  needed  it.  The  religions  which 
had  held  the  ground  had  lost  their  force,  cer- 
tainly in  the  lands  around  Palestine  which  would 
first  be  reached.  Think  as  well  of  these  as  you 
will.     It  cannot  be  very  well,  and  their  time  was 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN   HANDS   OF  MEN      241 

over.  There  was  no  reason  why  they  should  lin- 
ger. The  characters  which  had  been  fashioned 
under  the  ancient  faiths  were  not  often  to  be  ad- 
mired. At  last  not  even  the  gods  could  have 
been  respected  by  high-minded  men.  The  lan- 
guage of  one  of  our  American  scholars  is  to  the 
point  when  he  writes  of  the  elder  Cato,  that  he 
possessed  almost  every  virtue  not  specially  blessed 
by  Christ,  but  that  there  was  not  one  of  the  Beat- 
itudes of  Christ  in  which  he,  the  best  of  the  Ro- 
mans, could  have  claimed  a  part ;  and  that  there 
are  none  of  the  Roman  divinities  who  possessed 
any  of  these  virtues.  To  come  down  a  hundred 
years,  even  Marcus  Aurelius,  philosopher  and 
saint,  who  has  reached  renown  as  one  of  the  best 
men  those  times  can  present,  and  because  of  whom 
we  are  bidden  admire  the  times  in  which  he  was 
possible,  "  obtained  the  apotheosis  of  his  profli- 
gate wife  and  of  his  dissolute  colleague,  building 
temples  for  their  worship,  instituting  priesthoods 
in  their  names,  and  in  all  respects  yielding  them 
divine  honors."  It  is  not  strange  that  Chris- 
tianity suffered  under  his  rule.  This  has  been 
termed  "  a  tragical  fact."  If  his  religion  was  to 
keep  its  place,  there  was  no  room  for  the  new 
faith  of  Judea.  But  the  need  was  there.  "  I 
apprehend,"  said  Vespasian,  as  death  came  close 
to  him,  —  "  I  apprehend  that  1  am  going  to  be  a 


242      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

god/'  Was  the  way  then  open  for  the  Son  of 
God?  To  find  the  people  ready  to  throw  off  the 
forms  which  remained,  and  to  accept  another 
faith,  coming  from  a  Jewish  province,  and  one 
whose  history,  so  far  as  it  was  known,  had  little 
to  commend  it,  was  more  than  prudent  men,  re- 
lying on  their  own  judgment,  were  entitled  to 
expect.  It  was  a  bold  intent,  to  present  a  re- 
ligion which  forbade  many  things  to  which  the 
people  were  accustomed,  and  which  they  held 
right  and  even  essential ;  whose  spirit  was  char- 
ity, in  that  age,  and  whose  deeds  were  service ; 
which  made  all  men  brethren,  the  children  of 
one  Father,  who  was  the  one  God  ;  which  ac- 
counted it  profitable  to  give  up  the  world  for 
the  soul's  sake,  and  to  lay  up  in  heaven  that 
which  had  been  earned  upon  the  earth ;  which 
had  no  altars  or  images,  and  enjoined  worship 
only  in  spirit  and  in  truth ;  where  priests 
would  lose  their  office  and  become  suppliants 
for  mercy  by  the  side  of  the  king  and  the  slave. 
Could  the  attempt  succeed?  The  Athenian  had 
graved  upon  one  of  his  many  altars,  "  To  an 
unknown  God."  When  St.  Paul  declared  the 
Unknown,  and  in  the  same  breath  bore  witness 
to  the  resurrection  of  his  Master,  the  most 
courteous  response  he  received  was  the  promise 
to  hear  him  at  another  time.     If  there  was  ever 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS  OF  MEN      243 

an  apparently  wild,  desperate  enterprise  under- 
taken in  the  name  of  religion,  it  was  in  the  pur- 
pose to  establish  through  the  Roman  Empire  the 
teaching  of  Christ  and  Him  crucified.  This  was 
attempted.     This  was  done. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  the  moral  deso- 
lation of  the  period  when  Christianity  first  vent- 
ured abroad.  Historians  have  not  measured  their 
words,  and  excess  is  easy.  But  there  can  be  no 
doubt  of  the  social  and  moral  ruin  which  was 
everywhere  to  be  found.  In  the  words  of  Pro- 
fessor Jowett,  "To  see  the  world  in  its  worst 
estate  we  turn  to  the  age  of  the  satirists  and  of 
Tacitus,  when  all  the  different  streams  of  evil, 
coining  from  East,  West,  North,  South,  the  vices 
of  barbarism  and  the  vices  of  civilization,  rem- 
nants of  ancient  cults,  and  the  latest  refinements 
of  luxury  and  impurity,  met  and  commingled  on 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber."  I  have  said  enough  to 
those  who  know  more.  Of  course  there  were 
good  men  and  women.  There  were  sincere 
worshippers.  There  were  defenders  of  the  faith, 
and  even  trials  for  heresy.  Anaxagoras  was 
"banished  for  suggesting  that  the  god  Helios 
was  a  mass  of  molten  iron."  There  was  relig- 
ion which  had  control  of  certain  lives.  Indeed, 
the  very  word  religion  suggests  a  belief  in  unseen 
powers,  and  with  this  points  of  contact  might  be 


244      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

found.  There  may  have  been  sincerity  even  in 
persecution,  as  there  was  when  Saul  of  Tarsus 
was  on  the  other  side.  The  ethical  standards 
were  different  from  ours  and  lower  than  they 
have  since  become.  Let  all  this  be  acknowledged, 
and  the  extreme  difficulty  of  passing  just  judg- 
ment on  the  religion  of  another  nation.  We  sel- 
dom do  it  on  the  religion  of  another  man,  even. 
Still,  making  all  allowances,  it  was  a  very  un- 
promising field  for  missionary  effort.  But  upon 
it  the  young  faith  was  to  enter.  The  reasons  of 
its  triumph  have  been  stated  by  Gibbon,  and 
Merivale,  and  others,  and  are  too  familiar  for  repe- 
tition. There  is  not  a  little  truth  in  their  words. 
The  forces  they  describe  must  have  had  their 
effect,  but  they  were  not  sufficient  for  the  results. 
Perhaps  history  did  not  feel  warranted  in  going 
to  the  under-current  of  influence.  History  is 
always  in  danger  of  coming  upon  religion.  Re- 
ligion gets  wonderfully  involved  with  the  affairs 
of  men,  and  moves  along  in  every  advance.  But 
it  is  quiet  and  unobtrusive.  Writers  sometimes 
overlook  it.  It  was  by  virtue  of  the  spirit  which 
was  in  it,  of  the  thought  of  God  and  the  steady 
movement  of  his  intention,  that  the  Christian  truth 
went  forward  to  do  what  it  had  been  appointed 
and  foreordained  to  do. 

The  men  who  were  to  change  the  world  had 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN      245 

little  learning  or  position.  They  had  seen  their 
Master  crucified,  and  had  seen  Him  afterward 
living.  With  entire  devotion  to  his  service  they 
went  out  with  their  spiritual  weapons.  They 
were  tolerated  as  harmless  till  they  came  to  be 
feared.  Paganism  desired  them  as  allies,  and 
was  quickly  refused.  The  force  which  sought  to 
compel  the  alliance  was  cruel  to  no  purpose.  The 
messengers  of  the  faith  could  not  be  conquered. 
The  first  witnesses  died,  but  others  entered  into 
their  work.  They  made  converts  among  the  com- 
mon people,  and  gained  some  of  higher  rank.  At 
length  the  Emperor  extended  his  favor  to  the 
Christians,  and  they  had  the  formal  right  to  be. 
"  The  religion  of  the  despised  Nazarene,  against 
the  most  savage  and  persistent  resistance  ever 
known  in  the  world,  had  conquered  the  em- 
pire." It  "  had  transformed  the  world's  history." 
Paganism  had  by  no  means  been  removed,  but 
Christianity  had  not  been  destroyed.  That  de- 
creased, this  increased.  The  statue  on  the  Bos- 
phorus  with  the  head  of  Constantine  and  the 
form  of  Apollo,  with  a  piece  of  the  true  cross,  has 
been  thought  a  fit  image  of  the  time  —  a  heathen 
body  with  a  Christian  head,  and  Christian  life  at 
the  heart.  On  his  death-bed  the  Emperor  sought 
baptism  and  said,  "  Now  all  ambiguity  vanishes." 
Julian  strove   in  vain  to   bring  back   the  fallen 


246      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN   HANDS   OF  MEN 

divinities.  The  words  put  upon  his  lips  may 
never  have  been  spoken  ;  but  the  Nazarene  had 
conquered. 

It  is  not  for  me  here  to  trace  the  extension  of 
this  work,  to  which  the  name  Missions  has  been 
given.  It  was,  of  course,  inevitable  that  these 
should  be  carried  on  by  men  who  saw  their  title 
to  discipleship  in  the  obedience  of  Christ  who  had 
bidden  them  go  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the 
Gospel  to  the  whole  creation.  There  was  only 
one  thing  to  be  done  in  the  presence  of  their 
t%  marching  orders."  Within  them  was  the  very 
spirit  of  the  Gospel,  that  is,  Love.  Love  insisted 
on  sharing  every  good  with  every  neighbor.  The 
greater  the  good  the  greater  the  duty.  The  great 
leader  was  not  of  the  first  company ;  but  all  the 
disciples,  save  one,  were  missionaries  of  the  faith. 
Those  of  the  multitude  assembled  at  Pentecost 
whom  the  faith  won  to  itself  became  missionaries 
as  they  returned  to  their  scattered  homes.  The 
power  of  the  truth  was  in  it.  Let  it  touch  life, 
and  it  would  make  itself  felt.  The  early  successes 
were  encouraging.  It  is  not  possible  to  determine 
their  extent  with  accuracy.  When  all  allowances 
are  considered,  it  is  clear  that  Christianity  was 
acquiring  strength  and  influence.  The  world 
<«>u](l  have  been  offered  no  other  religion  which 
could  thus  make  itself  regarded.     Each  new  con- 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     247 

vert  was  a  new  witness,  and  converts  multiplied. 
We  find  Pliny  writing  that  around  him  men  of 
every  rank  were  turning  to  the  new  religion;  in 
city  and  country  the  "  superstition "  made  its 
way,  and  the  temples  were  almost  forsaken.  The 
emperor  replied  to  him  that  if  the  Christians  re- 
fused to  honor  the  gods  they  were  to  be  punished, 
but  that  otherwise  they  were  not  to  be  interfered 
with.  They  did  refuse  homage  to  the  gods,  and 
they  were  ready,  more  than  ready,  to  seal  their 
testimony  with  their  life.  Strong  men  and  gentle 
women  died  in  triumph,  by  the  forms  of  death 
which  cruel  ingenuity  could  devise.  This  helped 
where  it  was  meant  to  hinder.  They  lived  with 
their  hearts  upon  the  cross  of  Christ,  and  coveted 
the  cross  for  themselves.  Tertullian  wrote  to  the 
persecutors  :  "  All  your  refinements  of  cruelty  can 
accomplish  nothing  :  on  the  contrary,  they  do  but 
serve  to  win  men  over  to  this  sect.  Our  number 
increases  the  more  you  persecute  us."  Again,  he 
asserts  their  right  to  live  because  of  the  truth  they 
were  teaching.  "  Every  Christian  mechanic  has 
found  God,  and  shows  Him  to  you  ;  and  can  teach 
you  all  in  fact  that  you  require  to  know  of  God  ; 
even  though  Plato  says  that  it  is  hard  to  find  out 
the  Creator  of  the  universe,  and  impossible,  after 
one  has  found  Him,  to  make  Him  known  to  all." 
The  conviction  is  to  me  unavoidable  as  I  study 


248      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

these  events,  that  there  was  here  the  light  and  life 
which  the  world  needed;  and  that  they  were 
offered  by  the  Creator  as  his  new  and  special 
gift.  This  is  the  meaning  of  it  all.  The  new 
faith  was  doing  an  indispensable  work  which 
nothing  else  could  attempt.  There  is  much  beauty 
and  force  in  the  saying  of  Augustine,  "Christ 
appeared  to  the  men  of  a  decrepit  and  dying 
world,  that,  while  all  around  them  was  decay- 
ing, they  might  through  Him  receive  a  new  and 
youthful  life."  To  this  the  German  historian 
adds,  "And  the  higher  life  which  Christianity 
came  to  impart  required  no  brilliant  outward 
splendor  for  the  manifestation  of  its  glory." 

In  every  direction  the  new  faith  was  spreading. 
It  usually  reached  the  cities  first,  and  there  it  was 
more  likely  to  be  received  than  among  the  ruder 
people  of  the  country,  whose  language  it  would 
often  be  difficult  for  strangers  to  speak.  With 
this  diffusion  of  the  Christian  faith  we  are  not 
now  concerned.  It  is  certain  that  this  came  out 
of  Jerusalem,  made  its  way  through  neighboring 
and  distant  lands,  going  farther  and  farther  until 
it  has  gained  recognition  around  the  globe,  and 
stands  to-day  wherever  civilization  flourishes,  with 
commerce  and  the  arts,  with  learning,  liberty, 
opportunity.  By  its  own  force,  that  is,  the  Divine 
force  embodied  in  it,  it  has  quietly  pursued  its 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     249 

way,  and  now  it  holds  the  world,  and  holds  the 
future. 

But  what  has  been  the  influence  of  Christian- 
ity ?  Let  it  be  remembered  that  the  work  is  very 
far  from  completion.  Yet  something  can  even 
now  be  required  of  it.  Its  advance  is  evident. 
But  what  has  it  done  as  it  has  moved  on  from 
the  land  which  knew  it  first  ?  I  can  readily  give 
you  a  good  answer,  but  I  must  give  it  in  a  book. 
Some  fourteen  or  fifteen  years  ago  a  course  of 
lectures  was  delivered  before  the  Lowell  Insti- 
tute, and  elsewhere,  by  one  of  the  most  eminent 
of  our  scholars,  who  is  both  theologian  and  histo- 
rian. His  lectures  were  entitled  "  The  Divine 
Origin  of  Christianity  indicated  by  its  Historical 
Effects."  With  a  profound  admiration  for  Chris- 
tianity, in  whose  service,  under  whose  command, 
he  had  spent  many  industrious  years,  he  declared 
his  belief,  and  I  think  he  made  those  who  heard 
him  in  three  cities  believe,  that  the  work  which 
Christianity  has  done  proves  its  divinity.  His 
feeling  had  been  well  expressed  in  the  words  of 
an  illustrious  man,  honored  in  many  lands,  "  The 
thorough  interweaving  of  all  the  roots  of  Chris- 
tianity with  the  history  of  the  world  out  of  which 
it  has  sprung  is  at  once  a  source  of  its  power  and 
an  assurance  of  its  divineness.,,  About  the  same 
time  another  valuable  book  appeared,  written  by 


250      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

a  man  abundantly  qualified  for  the  work.  It  was 
called  u  Gesta  Christi ;  or,  A  History  of  Human 
Progress  under  Christianity."  With  these  works 
in  your  hands  there  is  little  for  me  to  say.  But 
I  may  mention  by  title  some  of  the  results  of  this 
movement  whose  beginning  was  so  very  simple 
and  unpromising,  and  the  vast  meaning  and  reach 
of  the  words  should  be  noticed.  These  facts 
were  enforced  and  illustrated  in  the  lectures: 
Christianity  has  given  a  new  conception  of  God, 
finer,  higher,  diviner,  as  Father  and  Love  ;  not  en- 
throned on  inaccessible  heights  in  "  a  chilling  and 
cheerless  solitude,"  but  where  the  cry  of  a  child 
can  reach  Him.  It  has  given  a  new  conception  of 
man,  exalting  his  nature,  raising  him  to  his  place 
in  the  world,  endowing  him  with  liberty  and 
honor  ;  making  the  lowest  of  account  and  the  poor- 
est rich.  It  gave  a  new  idea  of  the  duty  of  man 
toward  God  ;  of  man's  duty  to  man,  in  politics 
and  society;  of  the  duties  of  nations  toward  each 
other.  It  has  affected  the  mental  culture  of  man- 
kind, and  its  effect  can  be  seen  in  the  world's 
hope  of  progress.  If  this  list  of  chapters  can  sus- 
tain itself,  as  it  was  thought  to  do,  Christianity 
has  indeed  moved  on  by  a  Divine  force  for  the 
advancement  of  the  world.  Imagine  any  one 
attempting  to  demonstrate  in  ten  hours  that  any 
other  religion  the  world  has  ever  known  has  been 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     251 

able  or  desirous  to  carry  man  upward  and  forward 
along  these  lines  !  "  You  have  heard  of  the  ten 
great  religions  of  the  world,"  remarks  a  brilliant 
preacher  and  a  teacher  of  history.  "  Of  these  only 
three  have  been  expansive  and  conquering  relig- 
ions. .  .  .  And  as  between  the  three,  .  .  . 
the  hard,  historic  fact  is,  that  Christianity  is  cer- 
tainly carrying  the  day." 

Let  me  extract  a  few  words  from  the  other 
work.  The  influence  of  Christianity  has  been 
greatly  helpful  in  the  home  ;  it  is  "  pure  religion 
breathing  household  laws  ;  "  for  the  father  and 
his  authority,  for  woman  and  her  child.  It  has 
made  law  wiser  and  more  humane  over  life  and 
property,  and  over  the  slave.  It  has  affected 
public  and  private  war.  It  has  advanced  and 
created  education  and  promoted  reform.  It  has 
favored  science  and  art.  There  was  need  of  all 
this,  else  it  could  not  have  been  done.  There 
was  need  of  a  great  deal  more.  We  can  at  least 
appreciate  the  effects  which  we  can  trace  to  the 
faith  from  Jerusalem. 

One  could  hardly  help  being  aware  that  it  is 
charged  upon  the  Church  that  it  opposed  scien- 
tific study  and  its  results.  This  would  not  be  a 
fatal  charge,  if  it  were  true.  But  it  is  a  matter 
with  which  I  am  not  concerned,  for  I  am  not  pre- 
senting the  Church  for  your  confidence,  but  Chris- 


252      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

tianity.  The  scientific  method  does  not  confuse 
terms  so  distinct.  They  are  related,  but  they  are 
not  the  same,  and  have  never  been  the  same. 

The  Church  has  had  its  own  work,  and  it  is 
not  surprising  that  in  its  devotion  to  this  in  the 
past  it  had  little  interest  in  scientific  studies, 
or  even  feared  them  and  opposed  them.  The 
Church  was  young,  inexperienced,  foolish.  But 
it  lived  and  learned.  It  has  certainly  learned. 
The  Church  of  necessity  felt  the  influence  of 
Rome  and  received  of  its  spirit,  and  Rome  was  not 
in  sympathy  with  scientific  inquiry.  "  The  spirit 
of  the  naturalist  did  not  exist  among  the  Romans 
any  more  than  it  did  among  the  Hebrew  people." 
Whatever  may  have  been  the  hesitation  of  the 
Church,  no  system  of  religion  has  looked  with 
more  favor  upon  scientific  inquiry,  or  given  it 
richer  reward.  Paganism  certainly  has  not  evoked 
or  fostered  it.  What  was  the  science  of  the  best 
of  the  ancient  nations  in  extent,  method,  accuracy, 
as  measured  by  the  standards  of  our  time  ?  I  do 
not  refer  to  modern  discoveries,  but  to  spirit 
and  promise.  As  for  opposition,  is  not  that  the 
fault  of  the  times  rather  than  the  ecclesiastical 
authorities?  Did  they  object  to  the  conclusions 
which  alarmed  them  because  they  belonged  to  the 
Church,  or  because  they  belonged  to  a  benighted 
world  not  yet  able  to  recognize  its  prophets  ? 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     253 

Was  it  because  they  were  Christians,  or  because 
they  were  men,  that  they  cherished  the  supersti- 
tions which  now  amuse  us?  There  was  Roger 
Bacon  in  the  thirteenth  century,  a  Franciscan 
friar,  but  a  seer,  who  saw  the  coining  of  science 
and  foretold  its  work ;  the  precursor,  he  has  been 
called,  of  Francis  Bacon,  and  Newton,  and 
Erasmus,  and  Bentley.  Yet  he  told  of  flying 
dragons  in  Ethiopia,  which  men  saddled  and 
bridled,  and  killed  when-  they  had  ridden  the 
flesh  tender,  and  then  ate  that  they  might  ward 
off  the  accidents  of  age.  "  They  prolong  life 
and  refine  the  intellect  beyond  all  belief."  I  do 
not  know  that  he  opposed  any  one  in  his  dis- 
coveries. But  he  lets  us  see  the  confusion  of  the 
time,  in  which  even  a  minister  might  be  mis- 
taken ;  a  time  where  were  wild  superstitions,  law- 
less vagaries,  with  fear  and  resistance  when  new 
theories  threatened  those  which  held  the  ground. 
That  was  not  the  spirit  of  the  new  faith,  but  the 
disposition  against  which  it  had  to  contend. 

Lecky  tells  us  that  "  the  belief  that  the  king's 
touch  can  cure  scrofula  flourished  in  the  most 
brilliant  periods  of  English  history.  It  was  as- 
serted by  the  Privy  Council,  by  the  Bishops  of 
two  religions,  by  the  general  voice  of  the  clergy 
in  the  palmiest  days  of  the  English  Church,  by 
the  University  of  Oxford,  and  by  the  enthusiastic 


254      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  RANDS  OF  MEN 

assent  of  the  people."  This  was  the  delusion  of 
the  period,  not  the  teaching  of  Christianity,  which 
at  length  put  an  end  to  the  superstition. 

Christianity  desires  to  appropriate  all  that  is 
good,  and  can  use  it  in  the  service  of  mankind. 
Whatever  advances  the  material  well-being  of  man 
works  in  its  behalf.  It  requires  good  government, 
it  fosters  learning;  it  must  employ  wealth,  and 
looks  with  favor  upon  the  industry  which  pro- 
duces it;  it  seeks  the  best  literature  ;  it  encour- 
ages science;  it  depends  upon  art  for  its  temples 
and  their  adornment,  and  through  forms  of  beauty 
it  presents  the  truths  of  the  Spirit. 

I  cannot  do  better  than  repeat  the  recent  words 
of  a  most  accomplished  Church  historian  :  "  Science 
only  exists  where  Christian  institutions  have  pre- 
pared the  way  for  its  advent ;  and  it  builds  upon 
the  conviction  which  the  miracle  has  aided  to 
develop,  that  nothing  is  impossible  to  man  in  his 
struggle  with  nature  in  order   to  clothe  himself 

DO 

with  its  power  and  to  subdue  its  forces  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  human  will."  If  Christianity  quickens 
the  mental  powers,  promotes  discovery,  enlarges 
knowledge,  why  should  it  not  do  the  same  work 
in  regard  to  the  spiritual  faculties,  and  quicken 
.tin!  elevate  the  life?  If  this  is  what  comes  of 
falling  under  Christ's  control,  reason  compels  us 
to  yield  ourselves  to  the  influence  so  long  as  there 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     255 

is  more  good  to  be  received.  On  the  other  hand, 
Christianity  is  to  be  benefited  by  all  the  advance 
of  learning  and  science.  What  has  not  been  done 
oppresses  us.  What  has  been  done  immediately 
concerns  us. 

I  claim,  in  my  turn,  that  the  work  of  Christian- 
ity is  evidence  of  its  Divine  character  and  mission. 
One  thing  is  certain :  this  is  the  religion  to  which 
the  world  must  look.  There  is  no  other  quarter 
which  gives  the  promise  of  light.  Is  not  this 
evidence  ?  The  work  before  us  is  immense.  Esti- 
mates in  such  matters  are  not  of  much  account. 
But  if  I  may  express  an  opinion,  the  work  which 
Christianity  has  yet  to  do  is  less  difficult  than  that 
it  has  already  done  •,  and  the  way  before  it  is  less 
uncertain,  and  its  resources  of  wisdom  are  larger 
than  it  has  used  in  the  past. 

The  beginning  of  Christianity  when  it  set  out 
upon  its  work  was  very  natural.  Those  who  were 
next  to  the  Master  began  this  ministr}'  to  the  world. 
We  have  very  brief  accounts  of  their  journeys 
and  experience.  The  New  Testament  chronicles 
tell  us  nearly  all  we  know.  For  the  greater  part 
they  were  soon  lost  to  sight,  though  their  light 
was  shining  in  dark  places.  St.  Peter  and  St. 
John  we  know,  and  their  work.  They  had  a 
preeminence  which  has  given  them  the  title  of 
Saint.     Saint  Paul  was  the  chief  missionary,  but 


256      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

helpers  were  given  to  him,  and  upon  these  passed 
the  great  name  of  Apostle.  They  worked  with 
order  and  prudence,  and  with  an  aim  at  stability. 
Everywhere  men  believed.  After  a  time  they 
became  formally  organized,  with  all  the  appoint- 
ments for  work  and  worship.  The  manner  in 
which  this  was  effected  is  not  known,  but  it  was 
done.  Apparently  it  was  not  done  at  any  one 
time,  but  by  degrees.  Methods  were  hidden  in 
the  life.  More  care  was  taken  to  do  the  work 
than  to  transmit  an  account  of  it.  It  was  natural 
that  the  early  churches  should  be  affected  by  the 
life  around  them,  and  under  its  influence  should 
fashion  their  own  methods.  The  institutions  of 
the  Empire  might  be  expected  to  give  the  idea 
of  government.  The  literary  and  philosophical 
spirit  of  Greece,  in  whose  language  the  New  Tes- 
tament was  written,  gave  forms  of  thought  and 
expression  to  the  new  faith.  "  The  Roman  genius 
for  government  and  administration,  Greek  phil- 
osophy, and  the  ancient  mysteries  of  Oriental 
origin  .  .  .  constituted,  as  it  were,  the  lan- 
guage which  Christianity  must  adopt,  if  it  was  to 
make  the  conquest  of  the  Empire  for  Christ." 
Great  good  was  accomplished  by  means  of  organi- 
zation. But  it  was  not  all  good.  A  way  was 
opened  for  ambition  and  contention,  and  we  come 
very  soon  upon  dark  pages  of  history. 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     257 

The  churches  grew  in  dimensions  and  impor- 
tance. If  the  new  companies  gained  anything  by 
taking  on  dignity  and  claiming  a  share  in  national 
affairs,  they  certainly  lost  very  much  in  parting 
with  their  simplicity.  Their  real  force  was  spirit- 
ual, and  this  is  seldom  aided  by  arms  and  author- 
ity, by  wealth  and  rank.  As  one  wittily  said,  the 
time  came  when  the  Church  was  not  forced  to 
confess  that  it  had  no  silver  and  gold ;  but  it  was 
able  no  longer  to  bid  a  lame  man  rise  up  and  walk. 
The  croziers  became  golden  and  the  persons  who 
held  them  wooden,  it  was  remarked.  Then  came 
divisions,  tyrannies,  persecutions,  and  a  host  of 
confusions  and  oppressions.  It  is  sad  reading  ; 
and  all  the  worse  that  a  splendid  opportunity  was 
misunderstood.  The  spirit  of  the  first  days  was 
lost  or  lessened.  Not  all  consented  to  unchristian 
deeds.  There  were  protests,  efforts  at  resistance, 
separations,  reformations.  The  life  and  the  truth 
were  never  disowned,  never  lost.  Through  the 
strife  we  hear  the  voice  of  charity  and  peace.  In 
the  worst  times  there  was  a  "  Remnant "  of  the 
good  and  true.  It  is  some  credit  to  the  Church, 
some  witness  to  its  vitality,  that  it  survived  the 
conduct  of  its  friends.  Its  enemies  were  less 
dangerous.  Let  us  accept  the  testimony  of  his- 
tory to  the  indestructibility  of  the  Christian 
Church.     It  has  moved  with  unbroken  life  from 


258      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

its  simple  beginning,  through  all  changes  within 
it  and  without  it,  through  national  revolutions 
and  social  transformations.  The  globe  has  been 
shaken,  but  the  Church  has  not  been  shaken  off 
nor  shaken  down.  It  has  stood  at  the  centre  of 
tumult,  and  in  it  all  has  been  firm.  The  gates  of 
hell  have  not  prevailed  against  it ;  —  that  was  the 
assurance  once  given  in  Galilee.  If  I  may  change 
the  figure,  the  ship  has  come  through  the  storm, 
with  her  rigging  worn,  her  masts  strained,  and 
her  rudder  twisted,  but  with  her  hulk  seaworthy ; 
leaking  here  and  there,  but  on  the  whole  sound. 

There  are  bright  places  all  along  the  way  of  the 
years.  There  are  many  saintly  lives  and  many 
Christian  deeds;  with  wise  administrations,  fa- 
mous schools,  devoted  missions,  a  gracious  spirit. 
We  mark  a  generous  hospitality,  a  blessed  charity, 
a  love  of  books  and  a  fondness  for  making  them 
beautiful,  with  patience  and  taste  which  have  won 
admiration  ;  many  stately  buildings,  treasures  of 
learning,  and  hymns  which  it  is  still  a  delight 
to  sing.  The  churches  have  preserved  for  us  the 
Bible  and  the  sacraments.  The  gracious,  helpful 
influences  which  have  been  named  have  come 
down  with  the  sadder  events  which  could  not 
prevent  them,  which  even  give  them  lustre  by 
the  contrast.  It  is  a  troubled  story.  It  shows 
what  can   be    expected   of   men,  and   makes    us 


CAUSE   OF  CHRIST  IN   HANDS   OF  MEN      259 

more  sure  that  if  we  are  to  make  a  great  advance 
we  must  be  helped  from  above. 

In  describing  the  early  Christian  life,  let  me 
copy  a  few  sentences  from  an  anonymous  writing 
of  the  second  century,  a  mere  fragment,  which 
gives  a  picture  of  the  life  of  that  time.  "  Chris- 
tians are  not  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  man- 
kind either  in  territory  or  in  speech  or  in  habits 
of  life.  What  the  soul  is  in  the  body,  this 
Christians  are  in  the  world.  The  soul  dwells  in 
the  body,  but  is  not  of  the  body ;  so  Christians 
dwell  in  the  world,  and  are  not  of  the  world.  They 
share  every  duty  as  citizens,  and  they  suffer  every 
indignity  as  foreigners.  Every  foreign  country  is 
a  fatherland  to  them,  and  every  fatherland  is  for- 
eign to  them.  .  .  .  Christians,  when  punished, 
increase  more  and  more  from  day  to  day,  so  noble 
is  the  post  which  God  has  assigned  to  them,  and 
which  it  is  not  lawful  for  them  to  decline." 

We  must  turn  our  thoughts  forward.  Certainly 
the  new  faith  has  proved  its  virtue.  The  mission- 
ary idea  which  was  essential  in  Christianity  has 
remained  in  the  churches.  It  could  not  be  lost 
unless  the  very  spirit  of  Christ  and  his  teaching 
disappeared.  The  attempt  to  localize  or  nation- 
alize his  religion  would  be  a  heresy  for  which 
there  could  be  no  excuse.  To  claim  that  we  alone 
need  it,  or  we  alone  could  receive  it,  were  not 


260      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

becoming.  The  expectation  cherished  by  the  early 
Christians  was  in  keeping  with  their  instructions, 
and  they  saw  in  Christianity  the  religion  for  the 
world.  They  believed  that  it  would  meet  every 
man's  wants,  and  protect  and  guide  his  life.  This 
was  their  confidence  in  their  Lord,  and  it  was 
very  early  justified,  as  the  men  of  many  nations 
found  in  the  new  faith  that  which  they  required. 
They  knew  that  Christ  was  to  conquer  and  reign. 
Their  zeal  held  its  force  for  century  after  century, 
though  with  irregular  control,  and  often  with  no 
movement  forward.  To  say  that  they  had  misap- 
prehension concerning  times  and  means,  and  that 
they  made  serious  mistakes,  is  only  to  confess 
their  limitations.  The  more  we  think  upon  their 
shortcoming,  the  more  must  we  magnify  the 
wisdom  which  employed  the  men,  and  with  their 
imperfectness  wrought  out  better  results  than 
could  be  found  anywhere  else.  Their  work  was 
not  to  be  done  speedily ;  not  so  speedily  as  some 
thought.  The  ways  of  Providence  are  often  slow. 
Perhaps  their  errors  were  allowed  to.  stay  the 
wheels  of  the  chariot  lest  they  should  roll  too 
rapidly.  What  we  are  to  mark  now  is  the  increas- 
ing purpose,  venturing  from  the  Paschal  chamber 
at  Jerusalem,  to  win  the  world  for  Christ,  and  to 
give  Christ  to  the  world  as  its  Redeemer  and 
King.      It  was  a  magnificent  intention,  even  as 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     261 

they  held  it,  and  there  was  leagued  with  it  an 
imperial  hope  which  has  never  ceased. 

But  what  is  the  condition  of  the  world  to-day 
with  regard  to  its  religions  ?  At  the  time  when 
these  Apostles  entered  on  their  work  all  the  Chris- 
tians there  were  could  have  lived  in  a  small  town. 
Now  it  is  estimated  that  the  world  has  a  popula- 
tion of  not  far  from  fifteen  hundred  millions,  of 
whom  about  one- third,  or  four  hundred  and  ninety 
millions,  call  themselves  Christians.  Of  course, 
millions  of  these  are  not  Christians  in  the  real 
sense  of  the  word  ;  that  is,  they  are  not  personally 
devoted  to  Christ.  But  the  vast  numbers  mark 
the  extension  of  the  name,  and  in  this  is  a  stupen- 
dous truth.  At  that  time  no  Gospel  had  been 
written,  with  the  story  of  Christ's  life  and  his 
words  of  instruction  and  promise.  Now,  the 
Gospel  can  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  three-fourths 
of  the  people  of  the  globe.  In  three  hundred  and 
twenty  languages  some  portion  of  the  Bible  is  now 
printed  for  the  advantage  of  the  world,  that  men 
may  have  the  knowledge  of  God  and  his  redeem- 
ing love. 

Can  we  estimate  the  Christian  forces  ?  Every 
Christian  is  a  force  in  the  service  of  Christ.  It  is 
the  condition  of  discipleship.  By  him  others  are 
to  be  won,  and  every  man  who  is  won  is  a  new 
soldier  of  the  Cross.     It  means  this  to  be  a  Chris- 


262      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

tian,  as  Christ  bestows  the  name.  The  order  is 
this :  the  Creator  ;  the  Son  of  Man  with  new  life 
for  men ;  multitudes  of  Christians  in  life  and 
under  the  sway  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  give  life  to 
the  world.  There  are  certain  organizations  of 
Christ's  men  which  are  to  be  regarded.  There  are 
churches,  colleges,  libraries,  hospitals,  brother- 
hoods, charities,  in  almost  endless  variety.  The 
work  for  the  world  goes  on,  sometimes  with  obser- 
vation, and  sometimes  in  secret.  The  hope  which 
rules  is  unabated.  It  cannot  be  removed  until 
faith  vanishes  away.  After  years  in  the  wilder- 
ness the  churches  have  found  themselves,  and 
have  regained  the  meaning  of  their  life.  Figures 
easily  slip  from  the  mind,  but  I  use  them  to 
give  some  impression  of  the  forces  now  engaged 
in  this  part  of  the  service  of  Christ.  The  sta- 
tistics are  recent,  but  no  longer  exact.  There  are 
eleven  thousand  six  hundred  and  fifty-nine  men 
and  women  who  are  by  special  appointment  teach- 
ing the  good  news  of  God  in  countries  which  are 
not  their  own.  There  are  sixty-four  thousand  two 
hundred  and  ninety-nine  who  are  reported  as 
native  laborers,  that  is,  persons  who  have  them- 
selves been  taught,  and  are,  in  their  turn,  teach- 
ing their  countrymen.  The  annual  income  of  the 
voluntary  associations  which  direct  this  enter- 
prise is  nearly  thirteen  million  dollars. 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN      263 

Let  it  be  remarked  that  this  money  is  cheer- 
fully given  without  thought  of  return,  and  to  those 
who  have  never  been  seen  by  the  givers  ;  to  people 
of  strange  lands,  whose  history  and  ways  of  life  are 
separate  from  ours  ;  as  the  free-will  offering  of 
faith  in  Christ  and  his  teaching,  in  the  glad  obe- 
dience of  his  command ;  and  that  those  who  have 
given  their  lives  to  this  service,  becoming  exiles 
from  country  and  home,  and  the  things  we  value 
most,  have  done  it  in  their  devotion  to  Him,  their 
knowledge  of  his  truth,  their  experience  of  his 
love,  their  longing  to  have  his  name  and  grace 
made  a  blessing  in  all  the  earth.  It  is  a  splendid 
testimony  to  the    reality  of   the  Christian  life. 

All  this  is  but  a  portion.  These  are  the  mis- 
sions of  Protestant  churches.  These  are  modern 
and  recent.  Let  it  be  remembered  that  all  which 
Protestant  Foreign  Missionary  organizations  have 
done  was  begun  in  the  lifetime  of  men  who  live 
to  trace  the  work  from  its  beginning.  The  first 
of  these  is  but  eighty-eight  years  old,  and  the 
next  but  sixty-one.  A  century  is  a  short  time 
for  large  results  in  an  undertaking  of  this  nature. 
To  these  results  should  be  added  the  extensive 
missions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  The 
record  of  the  devotion,  heroism,  sacrifice,  of 
the  priests  who  have  carried  the  Cross  into  the 
wilderness  that  they  might  by  means  of  it  save 


264      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

the  souls  of  men  is  unsurpassed.  It  is  a  noble 
army  which  under  these  names  has  gone  forth  to 
seek  and  to  save. 

Comparisons  are  out  of  place.  But  the  roll  of 
our  thirty-six  hundred  American  missionaries  is  a 
list  of  noblemen.  They  are  college  men,  select 
men,  who  could  fill  the  places  here  quite  as  well 
as  those  who  stay  at  home.  With  them  are  women 
of  high  attainment,  of  beautiful  culture,  of  serenest 
courage.  They  are  good  men  and  women,,  and 
good-natured  ;  able  to  work,  and  able  to  work  with 
others  ;  with  a  conception  of  their  enterprise  which 
is  a  constant  inspiration.  No  civil-service  rules 
are  so  strict  as  those  under  which  these  Christians 
pass.  It  is  not  to  learn  their  belief  more  than  their 
health,  and  disposition,  and  desire.  It  must  be 
clear  that  they  understand  themselves,  and  are 
fitted  to  carry  out  the  purpose  of  those  who  send 
them  and  support  them.  It  is  a  serious  matter  to 
send  missionaries  abroad,  to  sustain  them  while 
they  learn  a  strange  language,  and  to  invest  a  large 
hope  in  them,  and  those  who  do  this  have  a  right 
to  know  whom  they  are  taking  into  partnership. 
The  entire  management  of  this  enterprise  is  in 
the  hands  of  strong  men,  men  of  business,  lawyers, 
clergymen ;  and  of  women  wise  to  plan,  skil- 
ful to  discern,  patient  and  brave  ;  who  bring  all 
their  wisdom  to  bear  upon  the  religious,  social, 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     265 

and  financial  questions  which  press  upon  them. 
The  dignity  of  the  work  is  in  keeping  with  its 
importance.  It  is  impossible  to  give  results  with 
an  approach  to  fulness,  and  they  are  of  inferior 
moment  while  the  work  is  steadily  going  on. 
But  I  find  that  the  Protestant  societies  count 
up  four  thousand  six  hundred  and  ninety-four 
mission  stations,  with  fifteen  thousand  two  hun- 
dred out-stations,  over  a  million  communicants, 
and  nearly  a  million  persons  under  instruction. 
What  is  sought  is  that  every  person  in  the  world 
shall  know  Christ  and  receive  his  help ;  shall 
learn  of  Him  to  know  the  Father,  to  do  his  will,  to 
live  in  his  favor,  to  have  eternal  life  which  can 
readily  be  extended  to  the  world  that  comes 
next.  The  design  is  broad.  It  is  not  to  seize 
a  savage  and  snatch  him  from  endless  death ; 
but  to  find  the  savage,  or  the  sage,  and  tell  him, 
what  no  man  knows  till  he  is  told,  at  home  or 
abroad,  that  the  Love  of  God  is  in  the  earth 
seeking  its  own,  that  it  may  give  them  a  right 
spirit  and  persuade  them  into  life,  which  is  the 
gift  of  Love. 

This  Christian  enterprise  recognizes  whatever 
good  it  finds,  whatever  of  truth  and  faith,  and 
making  the  most  of  this,  in  an  economical  spirit, 
adds  to  it  more  truth,  higher  truth,  the  Truth. 
These  men  have  not  consecrated  themselves  t<>  a 


266      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

wearisome  failure,  and  they  intend  to  deserve  the 
success  for  which  they  strive. 

They  know  what  they  believe,  and  they  be- 
lieve that  it  is  worth  any  man's  knowing.  They 
work  rationally  and  discreetly.  It  is  not  proposed 
to  transplant  our  Western  system  of  thought  and 
of  life,  and  our  institutions  as  they  have  been 
made  for  ourselves ;  but  in  their  own  language 
to  present  to  men  the  Son  of  Man,  and  to  persuade 
them  to  acknowledge  Him  as  Master  and  Lord ; 
and  to  make  their  own  philosophy  and  set  up 
their  own  organizations,  and  to  order  their  affairs 
after  their  own  judgment.  New  England  Chris- 
tians are  in  place  here.  But  we  cannot  expect 
the  Chinaman  to  become  a  New  Englander.  Let 
him  retain  his  Oriental  habit  of  mind  and  hold  it 
in  allegiance  to  the  one  Teacher.  The  design  is 
to  build  up  a  kingdom  on  the  earth,  including  all 
nations  and  peoples,  where  the  will  of  God  shall 
be  done  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

It  is  not  proposed  that  all  this  shall  be  accom- 
plished by  missionaries.  Their  work  is  to  begin ; 
to  teach  what  they  have  learned,  and  to  let  this 
do  its  own  work.  They  are  to  raise  up  in  every 
country  men  of  the  land  who  shall  minister  to 
their  own  people.  They  are  to  make  Christians 
of  the  New  Testament  order,  in  which  every 
man  who  learned  was  to  repeat  the  truth  to  his 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     267 

neighbor.  Let  me  remark  again,  it  is  literally 
the  method  of  the  leaven  and  the  seed.  There 
is  a  natural  limit,  therefore,  to  the  undertaking, 
and  one  which  need  not  be   far  away. 

We  may  not  overlook  the  variety  of  the  benefits 
which  these  men  confer.  They  are  by  no  means 
confined  to  things  unseen  and  eternal.  They  are 
students  and  teachers.  Geography,  ethnology, 
history,  sociology,  philology,  every  department 
of  knowledge,  is  indebted  to  them.  They  repre- 
sent their  country,  and  with  honor.  Their  ser- 
vice to  the  people  whom  they  seek,  given  in 
their  daily  life,  is  manifold  and  inestimable. 

There  has  recently  died  in  England  a  Christian, 
a  Prussian  by  birth,  who  had  expended  seven 
million  dollars  in  the  care  of  orphan  children, 
for  more  than  forty  thousand  of  whom  he  had 
provided  a  home,  and  this  large  amount  of  money 
had  been  given  to  him  by  Christian  men  and  wom- 
en, without  solicitation,  in  their  knowledge  and 
approval  of  his  work  of  faith  and  charity.  This 
is  an  instance  of  one  man's  usefulness  through 
a  free  and  bold  Christian  confidence.  The  method 
and  result  are  altogether  in  keeping  witli  the 
spirit  which  controlled  the  enterprise.  The  whole 
design  is  distinctively  Christian.  It  may  be  seen 
all  along  the  centuries  since  Christ  blessed  the 
children.     That  which  we  call  Christianity  would 


268      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

forfeit  its  right  to  the  name  if  it  did  not  seek  to 
bless  men  in  this  present  world  as  the  accompani- 
ment of  endless  blessing.  It  was  a  beautiful 
testimony  which  the  simple  islander  gave  to  the 
spirit  of  the  missionary  Patteson  when  his  life  had 
been  taken  from  him  by  the  mistaken  savages  for 
whom  he  lived:  "He  loved  them  all  alike."  I 
do  not  know  of  better  reading  than  the  memoirs 
of  our  missionaries,  for  those  who  would  see  a 
really  Divine,  Christ-like  manhood  in  its  grandeur. 
They  give  life  and  give  it  abundantly.  They 
count  nothing  dear  unto  themselves  if  they  can 
help  others  with  it.  They  carry  the  wealth  of  the 
richest  lands  into  those  which  are  poorest.  They 
create  manhood.  They  teach  law  and  liberty,  good 
order  and  safety. 

They  make  homes,  elevate  women,  gladden  chil- 
dren, save  life  and  make  it  worth  saving.  They 
carry  medicine  and  surgery,  and  all  the  useful 
arts.  The  African  chief  who  exulted  when  he 
saw  a  plough,  because  it  would  save  him  five 
wives,  offers  a  gross  type  of  a  man  who  felt 
better  off.  Imagine  the  advantage  to  the  Dark 
Continent  of  having  David  Livingstone  within 
it!  We  need  not  inquire  too  carefully  for  the 
consequences.  Duty  does  not  depend  upon  that. 
Bui  in  any  case  no  one  can  doubt  the  worth  to 
a  land  of  having  the  men  and  women  whom  we 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     209 

call  missionaries  live  in  it,  with  no  other  design 
than  to  do  the  people  good. 

Great  things  have  been  done.  But  let  me  re- 
peat, much  more  has  been  effected  in  taking  up 
the  work,  getting  it  in  hand,  learning  how  to  do 
it,  getting  established  on  the  ground.  The  day 
of  experiments  is  over.  Investments  are  made, 
in  men,  in  buildings,  in  churches  and  schools,  in 
methods,  in  brave  lives  which  have  remembrance. 
It  was  the  thoughtful  statement  of  one  of  the 
scholarly  leaders  in  this  movement,  called  early 
from  the  work  which  needed  him,  and  which 
he  needed,  that  "  Christianity  has  now  become 
naturalized  everywhere  among  the  most  diverse 
nations,"  and  '"  everywhere  demonstrates  its  char- 
acter as  the  one  religion  for  the  human  race." 
It  has  reached  the  highest  and  the  lowest,  and 
has  proved  its  grace  and  truth.  It  is  a  pleasant 
picture  which  Drummond  gives  of  an  African 
who  had  become  Christ's  man  :  "  He  was  neither 
bright  nor  clever ;  he  was  a  commonplace  black  ; 
but  he  did  his  duty  and  never  told  a  lie.  I 
looked  out  of  my  tent ;  a  flood  of  moonlight  lit  up 
the  forest,  and  there,  kneeling  upon  the  ground, 
was  a  little  group  of  natives,  and  Moolu  in  the 
centre  conducting  evening  prayers."  1 1  is  "life 
gave  him  the  right  to  do  it.  I  believe  in  missions, 
for  one  thing,  because  I  believe  in  Moolu." 


270      CAUSE  OF  CHBIST  IN  HANDS  OF  MEN 

But  religion  does  not  work  alone.  It  is  in  the 
world  where  national  changes  may  combine  to  its 
advantage.  Nothing  is  too  great  or  too  small  for 
its  use.  Greece  gave  to  the  Good  News  a  lan- 
guage, and  Rome  a  world.  The  finding  of  this 
Western  Continent  gave  a  new  place  to  the 
young  life,  a  new  vantage-ground  from  which 
to  reach  over  the  earth.  In  "rectifying  boun- 
daries "  more  may  be  accomplished  than  is  de- 
signed. We  cannot  look  upon  the  devious  ways 
of  nations  with  an  intelligent  confidence.  Still, 
changes  are  certain,  and  change  suggests  oppor- 
tunity. Where  it  has  a  chance,  the  life  proves  its 
power  beyond  all  question  and  does  all  it  is  asked 
to  do.  But,  unfortunately,  for  the  most  part  the 
great  advances  are  not  at  present  in  the  most 
important  sections  of  the  world.  In  the  Turkish 
Empire  its  way  is  blocked  by  Mohammedanism, 
which  never  yields  an  inch,  where  cruelty  has 
been  written  in  blood,  as  it  will  be  to  the  end. 
The  red  hand  on  the  wall  of  St.  Sophia  is  the 
seal  it  stamps  on  everything  it  touches.  But  as 
civilization  advances  even  Turkey  may  feel  it  and 
modernize  its  life.  Much  is  already  being  done 
by  these  men  and  women ;  by  Robert  College  on 
the  Bosphorus,  with  the  American  flag  waving 
above  it;  and  the  Girls'  College  at  Constanti- 
nople,   chartered    by  Massachusetts ;    and    other 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     271 

kindred  institutions.  We  are  making  headway 
even  there.  The  best  friends  Turkey  has  had 
are  the  Christian  missionaries  who  have  been 
found  heroes  in  the  sad  days  which  are  not  yet 
over.  It  looks  as  if  only  compulsion  can  effect 
the  freedom  of  Christianity ;  but  in  the  clashing 
of  the  powers  even  compulsion  is  possible. 

There  have  been  notable  successes  in  India. 
Western  influences  have  been  felt.  But  India 
has  not  become  Christian.  Its  religions  have  lost 
much  of  their  authority,  but  no  other  has  taken 
their  place.  Reforms  have  come,  but  the  greatest 
reform  is  from  without.  We  are  told  upon  the 
highest  authority  that  extraordinary  changes  are 
quietly  taking  place  in  India,  in  the  political, 
social,  moral,  and  religious  life  of  the  people. 
The  difficulties  are  evident  and  serious.  India  is 
old.  She  is  proud,  and  with  reason.  She  has  her 
own  faith.  Christianity  is  the  religion  of  foreign- 
ers, and  foreigners  who  have  taken  away  her  lib- 
erty. It  interferes  with  venerated  customs  and 
prejudices.  Its  method  of  thought  is  different 
from  hers.  But  in  all  this  there  is  nothing  which 
must  be  permanent.  Christianity  stands  with  far 
more  promise  on  the  borders  of  India,  and  the 
great  countries  beyond,  than  it  had  at  Antioch 
when  it  looked  out  upon  the  world.  Sudden 
changes  may  come,  are  quite  certain  to  come  if  we 


272      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

deserve  them.  India  is  under  British  rule.  Ships 
from  other  lands  are  in  her  ports.  Railroads 
traverse  her  territory.  Schools  are  giving  out 
their  light.  Christian  voices  from  the  West  are 
eagerly  heard,  and  books  are  read.  It  is  much  to 
look  for,  yet  it  does  not  seem  too  much,  the  day 
when  India,  not  along  her  coral  strands  alone, 
but  far  among  her  hills,  shall  know  the  life  of  the 
world.  Certainly,  these  great  nations,  as  they 
stand,  are  not  the  final  outcome  of  the  purposes 
of  Providence.  Nor  can  we  detect  a  nearness 
to  what  by  courtesy  could  be  called  the  Kingdom 
of  heaven.  Nor  are  there  living  signs  of  its  ap- 
proach. The  ages  must  be  long  which  unaided 
will  bring  it  in.  Ages  will  never  bring  it  in.  It 
is  proven  that  this  which  we  name  Christianity 
will  do  for  India  and  Turkey  all  they  need,  if 
ever  it  is  allowed  to  do  it.  This  is  the  affirma- 
tion of  history. 

I  am  entirely  willing  to  present  the  results  of 
missionary  effort.  They  have  been  as  large  as 
we  have  any  right  to  expect,  when  we  consider 
how  half-hearted  and  half-handed  we  have  been 
even  in  these  years  of  opportunity.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  any  effort  could  have  completed  the  work 
rapidly.  It  is  often  thought  that  the  first  preach- 
ing and  teaching:  were  much  more  remunerative. 
Probably  we  overrate  those  early  efforts.     There 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     273 

were  great  difficulties  then  as  there  are  now. 
Triumph  and  defeat  marked  those  days  as  they 
do  these.  "  History  has  been  called  an  excellent 
cordial  for  the  drooping  courage."  It  was  a 
splendid  service  which  was  rendered  by  those 
first  soldiers  of  the  Cross.  But  they  could  not 
cover  the  world,  nor  completely  gain  that  which 
was  open  to  them.  After  a  hundred  years  at 
Rome,  Christianity  was  still  "  a  foreign  supersti- 
tion," "destructive,"  "new  and  noxious,"  per- 
verse, and  extravagant."  I  take  Bishop  Light- 
foot's  estimate,  that  in  the  third  century  scarcely 
more  than  a  hundred  and  fiftieth  of  the  human 
race  were  Christians.  There  were  rapid  gains 
following  the  conversion  of  Constantine,  but  there 
is  nothing  to  make  us  feel  that  our  spirit  and  our 
ways  are  inadequate  to  our  task.  If  we  could 
part  with  our  differences,  and  unite  our  forces 
in  a  common  advance,  the  reward  would  soon 
come,  and  there  is  nothing  which  could  perma- 
nently resist  the  army  which  has  never  been 
conquered. 

It  is  well  for  us  to  remember  what  we  are. 
We  are  proud  of  our  descent.  Among  our  an- 
cestors "  each  freeman  .  .  .  was  his  own  house- 
priest  ;  and  English  worship  lay  commonly  in  the 
sacrifice  which  the  house-father  offered  to  the 
gods  of  his  hearth."     "Life  was  built  with  them 


274      CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN 

not  on  the  hope  of  a  hereafter,  but  on  the  proud 
self-consciousness  of  noble  souls."  The  Christian 
faith  early  made  its  way  to  Britain,  but  was 
driven  into  obscurity  by  the  invaders ;  and  as  the 
sixth  century  was  closing  an  Italian  monk  with 
his  companions  landed  on  the  island  of  Thanet, 
and  Christianity  began  to  be  the  religion  of  the 
realm.  In  the  open  field,  for  safety,  the  king 
received  the  strangers.  In  their  belief  they  were 
not  strangers  to  Bertha,  his  queen,  whose  faith 
commended  them.  England  has  owed  much  to 
women.  "  You  can  speak  freely  to  my  people," 
said  the  king.  Presently  the  king  was  baptized, 
and  to-day  the  whole  world  feels  his  faith.  He 
did  not  know  that  he  was  touching  the  whole 
world.  That  was  one  of  the  few  great  events. 
The  faith  of  those  rude  Christians  was  not  very 
intelligent  or  very  profound.  But  it  was  a 
beginning.  A  thousand  years  later  it  crossed 
the  wide  sea  and  established  itself  permanently 
on  these  shores.  Hence  the  Republic.  Every 
American  believes  in  foreign  missions,  so  far 
at  least  as  his  own  history  is  concerned.  Our 
schools,  colleges,  churches,  governments,  we  owe 
in  this  measure  to  Italians  ;  they  are  the  fruit  of 
our  religion.  The  grateful  intelligence  of  Amer- 
ica is  committed.  I  ask  to  have  it  noted,  that 
this  colossal  event  in  the  political  history  of  the 


CAUSE  OF  CHRIST  IN  HANDS   OF  MEN     275 

world,  the  forming  of  this  Republic,  without 
parallel  or  precedent,  had  its  beginning  in  the 
name  of  Christianity  and  under  its  inspiration. 
The  influence  of  these  two  English-speaking 
nations  increases.  If  they  will  move  together, 
in  the  obedience  of  faith,  they  will  make  a  way 
for  the  Augustine  of  our  later  time,  and  he  will 
walk  by  the  Bosphorus,  and  along  the  streams 
of  India,  and  over  the  mountains  of  China 
and  Japan,  bearing  always  the  Cross  of  light 
and  liberty,  and  everywhere  Angles  shall  become 
angels. 


VI 

THE  CHRISTIAN  FORCES 


THE   CHRISTIAN   FORCES 


The  forces  which  are  to  make  the  world  the 
world  it  ought  to  be  are  now  within  it.  Some  of 
them  have  been  here  from  the  beginning,  and 
have  worked  on  patiently  for  the  improvement  of 
society  and  those  who  compose  it.  We  have 
come  recently  to  make  account  of  these  inherent 
powers  more  than  in  the  past.  Every  sign  of  the 
presence  of  God  in  the  world  is  of  help  to  us. 
The  tendencies  of  life  are  to  be  searched  out, 
and  we  are  indebted  to  those  who  work  in  that 
domain  with  fidelity  and  skill,  and  make  the  re- 
sults our  common  property.  I  wish  that  they 
could  give  us  more  encouragement.  Perhaps 
they  will  do  so,  for  science  is  young.  Fortunately 
it  is  daring,  and  boldness  is  another  name  for 
promise.  It  must  be  confessed  that  these  natural 
processes  are  very  deliberate.  They  are  altogether 
too  slow  for  the  individual,  who  properly  objects 
to  being  absorbed  in  the  race,  and  to  find  the  ful- 
filment of  his  life  in  a  congeries  of  strangers  ;  to 
be  lost  in  the  crowd.     This  is  not  selfishness  nor 


280  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

egotism.  It  is  self-respect.  It  can  be  cherished 
without  compunction,  seeing  that  it  takes  noth- 
ing from  the  well-being  of  remote  descendants. 
Under  the  rule  of  Providence  every  one  has  the 
right  to  look  for  his  own  advance,  and  every  one 
thinks  he  has  fitness  enough  to  warrant  his  sur- 
vival. One  thing  is  evident,  that  these  natural 
forces  are  not  accomplishing  the  work  which 
needs  to  be  done.  We  are  by  no  means  sure  of 
their  continuance  and  the  happy  completing  of 
their  effort.  Even  now  they  do  not  bring  men 
to  the  knowledge  of  God,  their  Father,  whose 
life  and  law  are  Love,  and  to  the  estate  of  Glory, 
Honor,  Immortality.  They  do  not  give  that  new 
principle  of  life  which  contents  a  man  before  his 
own  conscience  and  the  intelligent  thought  of 
his  Creator.  In  a  word,  they  do  not  give  life 
and  renew  the  first  creation.  One  speaks  with 
caution  when  he  alludes  to  the  possibilities  of  the 
ages.  We  are  soon  carried  to  the  realm  of  con- 
jecture and  expectation.  Under  other  conditions 
we  might  have  been  glad  even  of  hope.  But  we 
have  no  need  to  resort  to  it.  We  can  keep  it  as 
a  solace  for  imaginative  hours.  It  is  plainly  not 
substantial  enough  for  daily  use.  Happily  we 
have  a  way  of  life  which  is  entirely  definite,  and 
is  open  before  the  feet  of  every  man  ;  so  narrow 
that  no  one  need  miss  it,  so  wide  that  good  men 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  281 

can  walk  abreast.  The  presence  of  God  is  in 
the  world;  in  it,  but  not  held  to  it  or  limited 
by  it ;  in  it  to  use  his  Love,  wherein  is  the  whole 
range  of  fatherly  thought  and  desire,  for  the 
regaining  and  perfecting  of  his  children.  This 
presence  of  God  was  in  its  fulness  manifested  in 
his  Son,  the  Son  of  Man,  who  has  given  his  life 
for  the  world.  The  Spirit  of  God,  that  is,  God 
who  is  Spirit,  is  in  the  world  to  persuade  men 
into  the  Divine  grace  of  the  Son  of  Man.  This  is 
distinct.  Resting  here,  one  can  welcome  all 
additions  to  knowledge,  every  disclosure  of  the 
thought  of  the  Creator,  every  bestowment  of  his 
spirit  in  the  lives  of  men.  His  ministry  of  life 
our  Lord  committed  to  his  friends,  that  through 
them  all  might  learn  of  Him.  On  the  largest 
scale  all  things  would  be  made  to  work  together 
for  their  good.  It  is  not  difficult  to  see  that  the 
teaching  of  the  Son  of  Man  has  advanced  with  the 
course  of  events.  We  boast  of  the  age  we  are 
living  in,  and  not  without  reason ;  and  I  presume 
we  should  agree  that  Christ  and  his  teaching 
have  never  been  so  well  understood  and  appre- 
ciated, and  never  had  so  great  influence  as  in  this 
remarkable  century.  "There  is  no  romance  so 
marvellous  as  the  most  prosaic  version  of  his 
history,"  whether  this  be  read  in  the  Bible  or  in 
the  later  chronicles  of  men  and  nations.     I  use 


282  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

the  word  influence  in  a  large  way ;  for  this  is 
felt  in  many  places  where  its  authorship  is  not 
confessed.  Indeed,  it  is  impossible  to  separate 
the  influence  of  Christianity  from  any  virtue,  or 
any  good  work,  which  we  find  here.  We  have 
inherited  something  of  its  method  and  spirit, 
perhaps  through  generations.  If  we  give  it  no 
personal  heed,  we  are  not  free  from  its  control. 
It  is  in  the  home  and  the  school.  It  is  in  our 
blood,  our  nerves,  our  habit  of  thought  and  work. 
It  is  in  customs,  in  literature,  in  institutions. 
We  cannot  take  it  out  of  the  air  we  breathe. 
There  are  disciples  who  are  unaware  of  their 
discipleship.  It  is  like  the  breaking  of  the  day 
when  one  of  them  finds  Him  in  whom  he  has 
believed,  and  finding  Him  believes   the  more. 

I  am  to  mention  one  event  which  finds  its 
beginning  in  this  control,  and  in  accomplishing 
the  Divine  purpose  has  the  intent  and  honor 
of  its  being.  The  past  and  the  future  meet 
within  it,  and  on  equal  terms.  I  have  already 
named  the  formation  of  this  Republic  as  an 
event  ordered  of  God  for  the  bringing  in  of  his 
Kingdom  upon  the  earth.  I  have  no  declama- 
tion upon  our  national  greatness  and  honor,  but 
history  cannot  be  trifled  with.  If  the  presence 
and  direction  of  God  in  the  affairs  of  men  are 
to  be  recognized,  if  they  are  a  reality,  it  should 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  283 

be  an  easy  thing  to  see  them.  In  our  idea  of 
God,  He  is  a  very  present  help,  working  out  the 
counsel  of  his  own  will.  If  the  presence  and 
work  of  the  Son  of  Man  are  as  real  and  Divine  as 
I  have  claimed,  then  nothing  which  can  be  done 
among  men,  among  nations,  is  too  great  to  be 
made  tributary  to  them.  How  can  we  sever 
such  things  from  the  thought  of  the  Creator? 
The  child's  question  was  a  natural  one,  "What 
does  God  do  all  day  ?  "  For  myself  I  reply  at 
once  :  God  is  carrying  forward  the  ministry  which 
entered  the  world  when  Christ  was  born  in  Beth- 
lehem. 

It  was  by  Divine  guidance  —  this  seems  to  me 
the  only  rational  explanation  —  it  was  by  Di- 
vine guidance  that  Spain  was  warded  off  from 
this  Northern  coast.  The  continent  was  in- 
deed "  picked  out  of  the  ocean  on  the  point  of  a 
needle ; "  but  it  was  not  brought  from  the  obscur- 
ity of  centuries  for  her  possession.  The  treasure 
of  the  new  continent  was  a  sorry  prize  for  Cas- 
tile and  Aragon.  But  it  was  made  to  serve  the 
interest  of  freedom  beyond  all  desire  of  its  pos- 
sessors. I  believe  the  Netherland  school  of  lib- 
erty was  really  founded  by  American  gold. 

A  Republic  is  the  highest  form  of  political 
institution,  so  D'Tocqueville  wrote,  and  we 
assent  to  it.      The  highest  form  of    Republic   is 


284  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

one  made  of  different  nationalities,  brought  under 
one  government  and  one  flag.  Such  a  Republic 
was  unknown,  and  the  time  came  for  it.  Where 
should  it  be  ?  Asia  offered  no  field,  Europe  was 
crowded  and  committed,  and  Africa  was  hardly 
the  place  for  an  experiment  so  grand  and  diffi- 
cult. This  was  the  only  land  where  a  nation  of 
tins  kind  was  possible.  This  continent  had  been 
concealed  until  the  right  men,  rightly  trained, 
could  build  their  houses  in  the  wilderness  and 
hold  the  ground  for  a  purpose  larger  than  they 
knew.  Let  me  give  out  one  verse  of  the  Boston 
Hymn  : 

The  word  of  the  Lord  by  night 
To  the  watching  Pilgrims  came, 

As  they  sat  by  the  sea-side, 
And  filled  their  hearts  with  flame. 

It  was  at  that  time,  and  with  a  clear  under- 
standing of  all  which  was  involved,  that  John 
Winthrop  wrote  for  the  "  encouraging  such  whose 
hearts  Gods  shall  move  to  joyne "  in  "  the  in- 
tended Plantation  in  New  England."  "It  will 
be  a  service  to  the  Church  of  great  consequence 
to  carry  the  Gospel  into  those  parts  of  the  world, 
to  help  on  the  coming  of  the  fulness  of  the  Gen- 
tiles." If  these  words  of  the  early  statesman  and 
missionary,  with  the  verses  of  the  New  England 
poet,  truly  record  the  suggestion  and  the  inten- 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  285 

tion  which  brought  Englishmen  to  these  shores, 
the  historical  spirit  leads  us  to  look  for  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  inspired  and  exalted  purpose.  I 
have  no  thought  of  tracing  our  national  life.  It 
has  not  been  altogether  according  to  our  mind. 
But  it  has  never  lost  the  way  or  the  course.  In 
nearly  three  hundred  years  we  have  not  made1  a 
serious  mistake,  an  error  of  imperial  proportions. 
Our  line  has  wavered  and  been  irregular,  but 
we  have  gone  forward.  The  Colonies  have  be- 
come a  Republic,  the  first  empire  of  its  kind.  "E 
pluribus  unum  "  means  of  many  nations  one  State. 
The  Republic  has  cast  off  slavery  and  now  stands 
in  its  strength.  Perhaps  this  has  a  sound  of  brag- 
ging, but  never  mind.  We  have  a  chronic  habit 
of  living  up  to  our  boasting;  and  something 
must  be  pardoned  to  the  exuberance  of  youth. 
In  all  parts  of  the  land  many  are  working  to- 
gether for  the  preserving,  the  strengthening, 
the  completing,  of  the  Republic  which  demands 
more  the  more  it  receives.  But  no  men  are 
doing  better  work  than  those  who  are  in  direct 
Christian  service,  and  notably  those  who  in  the 
West  and  South  are  teaching  the  religion  which 
includes  virtue,  industry,  patriotism ;  and,  fol- 
lowing our  own  experience,  are  building  into 
the  nation  the  intelligence  and  piety  which 
will  be  security  and  strength.     Let  ns  be  mind- 


286  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

ful  of  the  good  which  we  have,  and  cleave 
to  it. 

Here  in  name,  to  a  large  degree  in  truth,  the 
Creator  is  confessed.  His  law  is  authority,  and 
his  Providence  is  trusted.  The  name  of  the  Son 
of  Man  and  his  teaching  are  honored.  The  day 
of  his  birth  and  of  his  rising  from  the  dead  are 
regarded.  On  the  first  day  of  every  week  his  re- 
surrection is  commemorated.  There  is  much  of 
formality  and  informality  in  this,  but  it  is  signifi- 
cant that  opinion  and  feeling  are  thus  expressed. 
The  events  have  a  permanent  record,  though  their 
meaning  may  not  be  considered,  and  the  form  may 
recover  the  spirit. 

The  influence  of  this  country  is  increasing.  The 
influence  of  England  is  everywhere  felt.  The 
two  nations  have  one  history  and  one  language ; 
one  mission  and  opportunity.  They  reach  the 
whole  earth,  and  are  able  to  extend  the  teaching 
of  Christ  and  to  present  his  life  for  the  life  of  men. 
At  present  the  hope  of  the  world  is,  in  good 
measure,  in  these  nations,  while  others  bear  his 
name  and  pray  for  his  Kingdom,  that  it  may  come 
upon  the  earth.  We  do  well  to  remember  that  the 
latest  proposal  of  peace  was  from  the  land  of  Peter 
the  Great,  who  built  a  city  on  the  sea  to  bring  his 
people  closer  to  the  world.  Still,  for  the  present, 
the  main  dependence  for  leadership  must  be  upon 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  287 

the  English  lands.  Liberty,  knowledge,  righteous- 
ness, must  go  from  their  doors.  Religion  can  be 
found  everywhere ;  it  is  life  the  world  needs. 
Life  and  light  dwell  together;  where  the  free 
school  and  the  free  church  stand  in  increasing" 
strength  ;  the  right  to  think  and  the  intention, 
the  liberty,  to  speak,  and  the  determination  to 
make  use  of  it.  When  we  reckon  numbers  and 
count  our  gains  we  may  be  despondent.  But 
when  we  observe  where  Christianity  is,  and  with 
what  energy  it  is  allied,  we  have  new  hope.  But 
the  great  thing  is  to  feel  that  the  Creator  is  at 
work,  that  the  intention  which  gave  Christ  to  the 
earth  abides  in  all  its  strength.  It  is  in  the 
world,  and  while  this  is  true 

To  doubt  would  be  disloyalty. 

In  place  of  any  prediction  of  my  own,  or  my 
countrymen's,  let  me  read  these  generous  words 
of  an  English  scholar :  "  In  the  centuries  that 
lie  before  us,  the  primacy  of  the  world  will  lie 
with  the  English  People.  English  institutions, 
English  speech,  English  thought,  will  become  the 
main  features  of  the  political,  the  social,  and  the 
intellectual  life  of  mankind.  ...  In  the  days 
that  are  at  hand  the  main  current  of  that  peo- 
ple's history  must  run  along  the  channel  not  of 
the   Thames  or  the  Mersey,  but  of  the  Hudson 


288  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

and  the  Mississippi."  I  supplement  the  promise 
of  the  English  historian  with  the  words  of  the 
American  statesman.  The  late  Secretary  of  State 
said  at  Cambridge  :  "  Our  mission  is  to  act.  We 
must  advance  the  cause  of  Christian  charity  by 
deeds  as  well  as  words.  There  is  a  patriotism  of 
race  as  well  as  of  country.  The  Anglo-American 
race  should  not  forget  this.  They  should  stand 
together  if  necessary  against  all  the  world,  for  in 
their  closer  union  lies  the  best  type  of  all  Chris- 
tianity." Thus  we  send  out  our  voice  "  To  a 
people  proud  and  free." 

And  it  says  to  them  :  Kinsmen,  hail ! 

We  severed  have  been  too  long; 
Now  let  us  have  done  with  a  worn-out  tale, 

The  tale  of  an  ancient  wrong; 
And  our  friendship  last  long  as  love  doth  last, 

And  be  stronger  than  death  is  strong. 

What  we  term  missionary  work  is  not  limited 
to  personal  effort.  The  enterprise  is  organized 
and  known  in  the  banks  and  by  the  government 
of  every  State.  But  besides  this,  nations  are 
missionaries.  The  ships  from  Christian  countries 
carry  at  least  the  name  of  Christ,  and  their  move- 
ments pay  heed  to  his  life.  Our  navy  floats  the 
Sabbath  flag  in  the  harbors  of  the  world.  I  wish 
I  could  say  all  this  with  more  confidence. 

I  have  spoken  of  the  hope  of  the  world  and  its 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  289 

place  in  a  young  nation.  We  have  little  in  the 
past,  but  no  one  can  measure  the  years  to  come. 
To  be  alive  and  increasing,  to  be  young  and 
awake,  this  is  to  order  the  future.  It  cannot  be 
constructed  out  of  the  days  which  are  gone,  or  by 
those  whose  chief  faculty  is  memory  and  chief 
pastime  the  admiration  of  ancestry.  The  heroes 
and  divinities  of  distant  periods  have  their  place, 
but  the  present  must  have  its  own  leaders. 
Christianity  belongs  in  this  day  as  truly  and 
literally  as  in  any  period  of  its  history.  No  mark 
of  age,  no  sign  of  change,  has  passed  upon  it. 
The  most  important  thing  it  has  done  in  the  latter 
half  of  this  century  is  the  summoning  to  its  ser- 
vice the  young  life  which  has  responded  eagerly. 
On  the  Day  of  Pentecost,  when  the  new  faitli 
started  forward  into  all  neighboring  lands,  it 
was  announced  that  the  words  of  the  Hebrew 
prophet  were  fulfilled.  They  began  to  be  ful- 
filled ;  but  so  far  as  we  have  any  account  a  very 
important  part  of  them  was  not  at  all  regarded. 
The  time  had  not  come.  There  is  perspective  in 
prophecy.  The  Prophet  had  said,  "  Your  young 
men  shall  see  visions."  "  Your  sons  and  your 
daughters  shall  prophesy."  That  was  twenty-seven 
hundred  years  ago,  but  not  till  our  own  time  lias 
this  been  true.  Now  it  is  superbly  true.  A  new 
page  is  written  into  the  annals  of  the  faith.    Young 


290  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

men  are  seeing  visions  and  declaring  them.  To 
enlist  youth  in  the  service  of  the  faith  is  to  make 
its  advance  certain.  Young  men  and  women  in 
the  light  of  the  vision  are  united  for  this  purpose 
under  various  names,  all  of  which  are  Christian.  I 
make  no  distinction  between  these  organizations. 
But  since  I  cannot  describe  all,  let  me  state  a  few 
facts  regarding  one,  and  the  oldest.  These  can  be 
readily  extended  to  the  others.  I  speak  now  of  the 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association,  with  which 
should  be  associated  that  of  the  young  women. 
The  first  association  of  young  men  was  formed  in 
London  in  1844.  The  first  in  Boston  was  formed 
in  1851.  Since  then  they  have  swept  over  the 
globe.  In  1897  buildings  were  purchased  for 
their  use  in  Rome,  Madras,  Calcutta,  Tientsin,  Rio 
de  Janeiro.  The  last  report  which  I  have  gives 
fourteen  hundred  and  twenty-nine  associations  in 
America,  with  a  membership  of  two  hundred  and 
forty-eight  thousand,  seven  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  ;  with  buildings  and  other  real  estate  valued 
at  seventeen  million,  seven  hundred  and  seven 
thousand,  nine  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  with 
an  annual  expense  list  of  more  than  two  million 
and  a  half  dollars.  The  figures  give  some  idea  of 
the  dimensions  to  which  this  work  has  attained. 
All  this  force  is  for  manhood,  good  citizenship,  in- 
dustry, generosity,  godliness.      Here  are   a  few 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  291 

figures  from  one  of  our  younger  American  cities. 
There  are  five  buildings,  valued  at  one  million, 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-two  thousand  dollars; 
and  five  thousand,  nine  hundred  and  thirty-two 
members.  The  receipts  for  1897  were  eighty-seven 
thousand,  eight  hundred  and  ninety-six  dollars, 
and  forty-two  cents,  a  gain  of  more  than  eighteen 
thousand  dollars  over  the  preceding  year. 

This  is  only  one  department  of  the  enterprise, 
which  has  also  taken  its  place  in  colleges.  The 
seventy  thousand  young  men  in  our  colleges  and 
universities  are  a  power  which  is  equal  to  any- 
thing rational  which  they  attempt.  These  asso- 
ciations are  permanently  established  in  about  five 
hundred  and  fifty  North  American  institutions  for 
higher  learning,  which  is  nearly  the  whole.  It  is 
reported  that  more  than  one-half  the  students 
are  enlisted  under  the  name  of  Christ,  that  He 
may  win  the  world.  These  associations  are 
leagued  together  for  the  enhancement  of  their 
strength.  President  Roswell  Hitchcock  was  so 
impressed  with  what  he  saw  that  he  said,  "  The 
omnipresence,  and  I  had  almost  said  the  om- 
nipotence, of  the  Intercollegiate  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  is  the  great  fact  in  the 
religious  life  of  our  colleges  to-day."  A  union 
similar  to  this  holds  nearly  every  great  institu- 
tion in  England  and  Scotland.     The  wisdom  and 


292  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

the  spirit  are  enlarged  within  each  body  of  young 
men,  while  combined  effort  employs  and  increases 
the  separate  force.  With  the  spirit  rich  in  cour- 
age, deep  in  devotion,  young  men  have  looked 
abroad,  desiring  to  make  the  most  of  their  life 
and  to  help  the  world.  With  only  one  opportu- 
nity, they  have  resolved  to  make  the  most  of  it. 
Another  world  may  offer  exalted  employment; 
but  this  chance  comes  but  once.  They  are  under 
the  vows  of  knighthood  to  be  all  they  can,  and  to 
do  all  they  can,  "  In  His  Name."  Thousands  in 
the  United  States  and  Canada  have  banded  them- 
selves together  for  what  was  once  foreign  work. 
It  looked  like  the  enthusiasm  of  youth.  I  pre- 
sume that  almost  every  person  has  so  regarded  it. 
It  was  the  old-fashioned  way  of  judging  young 
men.  This  is  all  recent,  but  under  this  Student 
Volunteer  movement,  more  than  eleven  hundred 
have  already  gone,  as  the  time  came  when  their 
training  was  complete,  and  the  number  ready  to 
go  is  in  excess  of  the  means  to  send  them.  Over 
four  thousand  are  now  enrolled  as  volunteers.  In 
view  of  this  enrolment  President  McCosh  ex- 
claimed, "Has  any  such  offering  of  living  young 
men  and  women  been  presented  in  our  age, 
in  our  country,  in  any  age  or  in  any  country, 
since  the  Day  of  Pentecost  ?  "  Last  year  the  col- 
leges and  seminaries  gave  forty  thousand  dollars 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  293 

for  the  promotion  of  the  work.  The  intention 
is  —  and  it  is  not  unreasonable  —  that  in  the 
lifetime  of  this  generation  the  whole  world  shall 
know  the  name  of  its  Lord  and  Redeemer.  They 
expect  it.  Meantime  missionary  literature  is  re- 
ceiving systematic  study,  that  men  may  know 
the  work  to  which  they  are  setting  their  hands. 
General  Armstrong  said,  with  his  usual  sagacity, 
that  it  is  easier  to  get  men  than  money.  But  for 
this  enterprise  the  money  will  come.  We  are  pre- 
paring a  generation  of  givers.  I  mark  that  the 
Day  of  Pentecost,  which  promised  the  young  men, 
culminated  in  money  enough  for  all  the  wants  of 
the  new  community. 

There  is  more  to  tell.  The  Christian  Associa- 
tions have  established  themselves  in  all  lands, 
and  are  in  fellowship,  nation  with  nation.  They 
are  in  the  colleges  of  the  world,  and  these  are 
now  united.  In  August,  1895,  at  the  old  Castle 
of  Vadstena,  on  Lake  Wettern,  in  Sweden,  there 
was  a  conference  attended  by  men  from  America, 
Britain,  Germany,  Scandinavia,,  and  from  mission 
countries  strictly  so  called,  to  consider  the  union 
of  the  unions  of  the  world.  The  result  was  the 
World's  Student  Christian  Federation.  Seven 
hundred  student  associations  are  included  in  this 
union,  which  reaches  India  and  Ceylon,  China  and 
Japan,  Australasia  and  South  Africa.     Its  design 


294  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

is  to  unite  the  Christian  students  of  all  nations, 
and  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  win  all  other  students, 
and  by  this  means  to  give  Christ  and  his  teaching 
to  the  world,  in  the  confidence  that  if  He  is  lifted 
up  He  will  draw  all  men  to  Himself.  Universi- 
ties have  often  been  the  source  of  religious  life, 
the  centres  of  religious  movements,  and  it  will 
be  so  again.  Students  are  accessible  to  students. 
There  is  a  fellowship  between  college  men  which 
is  natural  and  practical.  They  are  a  guild.  A 
student  in  India  or  China  is  the  friend  of  the 
student  from  England  or  America.  The  thought 
and  life  of  the  newer  world  will  reach  the  older 
lands  through  the  doors  of  the  college,  and  by  the 
hearts  of  young  men  which  have  felt  the  hearts  of 
their  fellows.  A  recent  foreign  tour  in  the  interest 
of  this  movement  led  to  twenty-two  countries  and 
a  hundred  and  forty-four  schools  and  colleges. 
More  than  fifty-five  hundred  delegates  were  met, 
of  whom  thirty-three  hundred  represented  three 
hundred  and  eight  higher  institutions  of  learning. 
At  a  Christian  conference  in  India  there  were 
fifteen  hundred  delegates,  and  they  were  keen, 
bright  men.  Let  it  be  understood  that  this  band- 
ing and  enlisting  of  students  has  for  its  immediate 
end  the  extension  of  Christianity  over  the  world. 
It  is  Home  Mission  work.  Christian  students  are 
to  evangelize  their  own  countries.     It  is  the  work 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  295 

of  men  who  have  an  inherited  respect  for  all  that 
is  good  in  their  national  faith,  who  are  in  sympathy 
with  their  people  and  devoted  to  their  country. 

The  work  is  entirely  in  unison  with  that  which 
has  prepared  the  way  for  it.  The  veterans  will 
see  their  labor  rewarded.  Sowers  and  reapers 
will  rejoice  together.  The  undertaking  is  vast 
and  difficult,  but  the  power  which  moves  in  it  is 
patient  and  resistless.  There  is  here  an  advance 
which  dignifies  the  century.  Its  look  is  forward. 
It  has  time  in  its  hand  and  courage  in  its  heart. 
It  holds  the  future. 

It  may  be  asked  if  Christian  work  is  needed 
abroad  where  nations  have  their  own  religion.  It 
is  reported  that  there  are  fifty  million  slaves  in 
Africa  to-day,  held  by  savages.  Five  hundred 
thousand  die  each  year  under  this  cruel  life. 
They  are  taken  in  battle,  and  in  trade.  Slaves 
are  current  money.  Parents  barter  their  children, 
and  children  provide  for  their  parents  by  selling 
them.  The  owners  are  religious.  They  give  their 
slaves  in  sacrifice  to  their  gods.  When  they  are 
hungry  they  eat  them.  Oh,  yes,  they  have  a  re- 
ligion of  their  own  !  What  right  have  foreigners 
to  meddle  with  it?  Some  young  Americans, 
without  much  regard  for  the  religious  privileges 
and  pleasures  of  the  slave  land,  have  gone  out 
there  to  make  their  homes,  thinking   to  change 


296  THE    CHGISTIAN    FOBCES 

the  social  customs  of  the  people.  Conscious  of  a 
divine  life  within  them,  they  propose  to  impart  it. 
A  small  piece  of  leaven  goes  a  long  way  when 
once  it  gets  into  the  meal.  A  thousand  miles  off 
its  influence  is  less  evident.  If  suffering  is  the 
same  tiling  in  Africa  as  in  Cuba,  just  now  we 
favor  this  intervention,  and  all  the  more  that  it 
goes  with  the  Cross,  and  not  the  sword. 

How  noble  is  all  this  uprising  of  young  life  ! 
Every  profession  here  is  full,  and  will  easily  be 
kept  full  by  those  who  have  no  call  to  go  abroad. 
But  it  is  a  fine  ambition  which  ranges  beyond  a 
pent  up  Utica.  These  young  men  and  women 
are  free.  No  traditions  detain  them.  They  are 
committed  to  nothing  but  the  Truth.  They  have 
one  Lord,  and  Him  alone  they  call  Master.  They 
bear  many  names,  but  one  is  supreme.  They  have 
the  ardor  of  youth,  with  the  discipline  of  study. 
They  are  the  soldiers  of  a  young  leader.  The 
world  is  theirs  if  they  want  it,  and  they  do  want 
it.  They  follow  the  cross  in  the  sky,  and  will 
conquer. 

My  Knights  are  sworn  to  vows 
Of  utter  hardihood,  utter  gentleness, 
And,  loving,  utter  faithfulness  in  love, 
And  uttermost  obedience  to  the  King. 

President  Eliot  explains  the  concern  which 
universities  feel  for  the  permanence  of  religious 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  297 

institutions  :  "  Universities  exist  to  advance  sci- 
ence, to  keep  alive  philosophy  and  poetry,  and  to 
draw  out  and  cultivate  the  highest  powers  of  the 
human  mind.  Now,  science  is  always  face  to  face 
with  God,  philosophy  brings  all  its  issues  into  the 
one  word —  duty;  poetry  has  its  culmination  in  a 
hymn  of  praise,  and  a  prayer  is  the  transcendent 
effort  of  intelligence."  It  is  admirably  said.  The 
well-chosen  words  ask  of  us  an  unlimited  exten- 
sion. It  is  in  the  Christian  life  they  will  have 
their  liberty.  If  it  is  well  to  be  face  to  face  with 
God,  then  is  the  science  which  Christ  taught, 
wherein  men  see  God,  of  inestimable  worth.  If 
duty  is  a  supreme  word,  duty  as  Christ  taught 
it,  with  his  precepts  and  in  his  life,  comes  with 
profoundest  meaning  and  authority.  If  praise  is 
comely  and  to  be  everywhere  rendered,  the  gift 
of  Christ,  of  his  love,  of  Himself,  is  the  inspira- 
tion of  the  loftiest  and  sweetest  songs.  If  prayer 
is  the  "  transcendent  effort  of  intelligence,"  then 
it  is  to  learn  of  Christ,  and  to  take  to  itself  the 
deepest  emotions  of  the  soul,  in  penitence,  thank- 
fulness, faith,  and  the  desire  for  God. 

Christianity  would  breathe  through  the  uni- 
versity, through  the  soul  of  every  teacher  and 
every  scholar,  "  the  power  of  an  endless  life." 
Knowledge  would  be  higher,  ambition  nobler,  life 
more  Divine.     The  glory  of  scholarship  is  in  its 


298  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

use  ;  the  highest  glory  is  the  highest  use.  Noth- 
ing will  "  draw  out  and  cultivate  the  highest 
powers  of  the  human  mind  "  so  well  as  the  Spirit 
and  the  teaching  of  the  Truth  and  the  Life,  who 
brings  to  the  mind  the  largest  incitement  and  up- 
lifting, and  makes  known  the  highest  knowledge, 
not  otherwise  attainable,  and  gives  to  all  knowl- 
edge the  delight  of  holy  service.  Christ  takes  away 
nothing  good,  and  withholds  nothing  which  is  to 
be  desired. 

All  this  which  has  been  said  enters  into  the 
thought  and  plan  of  the  young  Christians  who 
have  devoted  their  life  to  the  service  of  Christ 
in  the  world  for  which  He  gave  Himself.  One 
part  of  their  work  has  been  presented.  There 
are  many  other  parts  under  different  names,  but 
with  the  same  design.  The  men  are  well  known 
and  highly  esteemed.  By  business  methods,  by 
enterprise,  by  sincerity,  by  hard  work,  by  faith 
and  love,  they  have  made  themselves  a  power  in 
the  world ;  a  power  which  increases  from  year  to 
year. 

Think  how  very  largely  the  young  men  and 
women,  the  boys  and  girls,  of  the  land  are  united 
for  Christian  service.  They  are  trained  in  this. 
I  do  not  know  that  everything  they  have  done 
has  shown  the  wisdom  of  age.  That  would  not 
be  desirable.     It  is  the  privilege  of  youth  to  have 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  299 

a  hopeful  daring  in  feeling  and  action.  They 
study  and  are  taught,  but  the  grand  aim  is  the 
Christ  life,  and  He  pleased  not  Himself.  To- 
morrow they  will  be  men  and  women.  They  are 
the  future.  They  cannot  be  counted :  they  can- 
not be  diverted.  One  could  almost  smile  at  fears, 
and  warnings,  and  sad  prophecies,  and  the  proffer 
of  strange  beliefs,  imported  dreams,  exhausted 
mysteries.  The  men  of  to-morrow  hear  nothing, 
care  nothing,  for  all  this.  Why,  the  future  is 
here  !  Christianity  moves  quietly,  steadily  for- 
ward. It  has  already  taken  possession  of  the  next 
fifty  years.  The  boy  can  be  trusted.  We  re- 
member how  finely  he  came  to  the  rescue  when 
the  hungry  multitude  gathered  around  Christ  and 
there  was  no  bread  to  give  them.  When  He 
worked  one  of  his  signs  He  had  something  to 
begin  with.  That  day  He  had  nothing.  A  boy 
was  there,  with  a  few  barley  cakes  and  small 
fishes,  which  his  foresight  had  brought  for  his 
ever-recurring  condition.  He  gave  them  up,  — 
I  do  not  know  why  except  that  he  was  a  boy, 
—  and  in  the  Lord's  hands  they  became  a  feast. 
and  more.  It  is  true  still;  the  boy  holds  the 
loaves.  By  his  wealth  and  his  consent  the 
world  is  to  be  fed.  Already  he  has  placed  his 
gift  in  the  Teacher's  hands.  The  bread  is  pro- 
vided.    The  people  will    not   be  sent  into   their 


300  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

villages.  The  proportions  are  not  discouraging 
—  one  boy,  five  barley  loaves,  two  fishes,  and  five 
thousand  men,  beside  women  and  children.  I 
think  the  terms  are  not  against  us,  even  with  the 
twelve  men  added.     We,  too,  have  Christ. 

If  the  claim  for  Christianity  which  has  been 
asserted  is  well  founded,  if  it  is  the  Divine  method 
for  the  recalling  of  men,  then  it  must  prevail. 
We  need  energy,  enterprise  ;  to  invest  ourselves 
in  our  plans ;  to  vitalize  our  forms  ;  to  prove  that 
the  new  is  more  efficient  than  the  old.  When  this 
comes  the  world  will  feel  it.  Of  one  thing  we 
can  see  the  evidence  at  any  hour :  the  power  of 
the  faith  by  which  the  man  is  brought  into  contact 
with  Christ,  so  that  the  Divine  life  is  breathed 
into  his  life.  This  is  the  work  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
and  by  his  grace  the  taking  possession  of  the 
life  of  God.  That  this  may  be  done,  Christ  should 
be  known ;  that  the  soul  may  be  opened  before 
Him,  and  that  He  may  impart  his  own  nature. 
"  With  a  vital  warmth  which  is  ascending  "  the 
new  life  is  taken,  and  lived  into  clearer  light. 
The  one  essential  thing  is,  that  the  life  of  the 
Son  of  Man  be  given  to  men  by  the  Spirit  of  life. 

What  is  claimed  for  this  faith  is  found  in  it. 
It  will  take  a  man  who  is  selfish,  without  regard 
for  Ood  or  man,  and  will  make  him  thoughtful, 
generous,  upright,  with  a  prayer  in  his  heart  and 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  301 

a  song  upon  his  lips.  It  is  not  his  own  work, 
though  it  is  with  his  desire.  It  comes  with  his 
submission  to  the  will  of  Christ.  But  it  is  the 
work  of  the  Divine  Spirit  in  his  spirit.  There  is 
another  man,  with  a  new  life,  and  one  which  lasts. 
I  give  this  at  the  best ;  but  it  is  the  best  which  it 
is  prepared  to  do.  All  this  has  been  done.  It  is 
the  commonplace  among  men  who  teach  the  way 
of  life  in  the  cure  of  souls.  There  are  variations, 
but  the  method  itself,  and  the  result  itself,  are  the 
same  the  world  over.  It  would  be  safe  to  assure 
any  man  who  will  thus  commit  himself  to  Christ 
and  his  Spirit  that  he  Avill  become  what  has  been 
termed  "  a  new  man."  If  this  can  be  effected,  as 
it  has  been,  what  remains  but  that  every  man  be 
taught  these  things,  and  brought  where  they  will 
become  true  in  his  own  experience?  The  work 
of  recovery  which  is  necessary  is  already  accom- 
plished in  myriads  of  souls.  What  shall  we 
strive  for  but  its  completion  ?  The  work  needs 
to  be  done.  Nothing  else  is  doing  it.  This  is 
doing  it.  The  future  is  provided  for.  What  do 
we  need  more  ?     Force. 

It  is  not  designed  to  put  man  back  where  he 
was.  These  years  have  been  too  costly,  and  we 
must  have  the  good  of  them.  A  man  is  taken  in 
his  strength,  with  all  lie  has  acquired,  with  all  he 
has  learned,  and  while  he  bows  before  the  incur- 


302  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

nate  Love  he  is  invested  with  new  energy,  a  new 
purpose,  a  true  heart,  a  new  commandment,  a  clear 
light ;  and  thus  purified,  invigorated,  directed, 
he  is  set  in  the  right  path  and  led  down  the  ages. 
In  this  world,  in  any  world,  he  lives  in  the  new- 
ness of  life.  If  this  is  the  Divine  way,  this 
should  be  the  result.  If  this  is  the  result,  it 
should  be  the  Divine  way.     It  is  the  result. 

It  is  a  matter  of  quantity  now.  The  problem 
is  no  longer  difficult,  and  it  is  not  beyond  our 
reach.  The  loom  which  will  weave  a  piece  of 
cloth  can  cover  the  globe.  It  is  a  question  of 
power,  not  of  looms.  What  has  been  done  in 
Jerusalem  can  be  accomplished  in  Galilee.  Naza- 
reth can  witness  the  works  of  Capernaum.  We 
have  finished  experiments.  These  are  the  days 
of  repetition. 

If  I  were  preaching,  I  should  urge  some  points 
more  strongly.  Even  now,  let  me  add  a  few  con- 
siderations which  may  enforce  what  has  been 
written.  In  this  day  when  the  scholarly  and 
scientific  spirit  prevails,  if  a  free  and  generous 
temper  is  to  rule,  Christianity  deserves  the  honest 
thought  of  every  man.  It  has  its  philosophy, 
which  is  entitled  to  respect.  It  is  not  a  matter 
of  emotion,  though  it  engages  the  deepest  feel- 
ing. It  is  not  an  experience  alone,  though  it 
enters  into  all  life.    It  has  its  history  which  is  well 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  303 

defined,  and  its  rational  principles  which  are 
readily  discerned.  It  reaches  into  the  unseen  and 
infinite.  It  must  do  this,  or  stop.  But  it  is 
concerned  with  the  present,  its  duties,  relations, 
necessities,  opportunities.  It  offers  itself  to  this 
world  and  here  makes  proof  of  its  strength.  Any 
appeal  can  make  promises  and  safely  postpone 
the  day  of  payment.  If  it  puts  this  far  enough 
off,  it  can  maintain  its  credit.  Any  system  of 
religion  which  expects  to  be  believed  should  begin 
all  its  work  at  once  and  where  it  can  be  tested. 
For  it  is  in  this,  as  really  as  in  any  sphere,  that 
religion  is  needed.  Christianity  begins  here,  and 
at  a  moment's  notice.  It  does  not  complete  its 
work,  for  that  stretches  on  forever.  It  gives 
to-day  what  to-day  requires,  and  never  ceases  to 
give.  We  do  not  know  all  it  means  perfectly. 
That  were  too  much  for  the  first  hundred  years, 
but  the  Divine  care  which  seeks  us  and  receives 
us  never  gives  us  up.  It  does  not  supplant  our 
energy,  but  employs  it.  It  permits  and  encour- 
ages our  personal  intercourse  with  the  Creator. 

There  is  more  in  religion  than  being  blessed : 
there  is  God.  Our  spiritual  nature  is  enlarged 
and  elevated  as  we  walk  with  Him.  The  mercan- 
tile considerations  which  at  times  enter  into  our 
views  of  religion  are  not  creditable.  If  we  are 
true  men  we  desire  to  be  with  God,  with  our  mind 


304  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

and  heart  fixed  on  Him.  When  we  are  there  we 
breathe  out  our  desires  and  construct  our  life  in 
the  simplicity  of  children. 

The  philosophy  of  the  Christian  life  requires 
that  we  live  in  the  thought  of  the  Son  of  Man ;  in 
his  thought  of  us,  which  is  certain,  and  in  our 
thought  of  Him ;  and  that  will  keep  the  steady 
inflowing  of  the  Divine  life.  This  cannot  be  taken 
once  for  all.  The  prayer  is  exact  when  it  says 
"our  daily  bread."  The  true  bread  from  heaven 
must  be  "  daily  bread."  It  is  never  to  leave  our 
mind  that  the  Christian  is  one  who  belongs  to 
Christ ;  who  draws  his  life  from  Him  ;  who  believes 
Him  and  believes  in  Him ;  who  finds  freedom  in 
obedience.  "  Where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  there 
is  liberty." 

Many  excellent  traits  belong  to  the  Christian, 
but  are  not  confined  to  him,  and  do  not  describe 
him.  He  is  more,  in  that  he  is  the  disciple  and 
apostle  of  Him  from  whom  the  name  comes.  To 
use  the  name  Christian  without  reference  to  Him 
is  to  break  the  laws  of  language.  There  is  no 
narrowness  in  defining  the  term,  for  any  one  can 
bear  it  who  wishes.  Christianity  embraces  all  the 
virtues  and  holds  them  in  one  design.  Life  is  not 
made  in  sections.  Its  method  is  simple,  beautiful, 
Divine.  Our  Father  is  spirit,  and  we  are  there- 
fore spirit.    This  is  our  lineage.    Then  comes  the 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  305 

honest  life,  true  to  itself  and  its  source  in  the 
Spirit,  constantly  coming  to  us,  constantly  re- 
ceived and  lived.  To  teach  the  Divine  goodness 
and  mercy  to  every  man  in  the  world  is  the  privi- 
lege of  those  who  have  learned  the  truth.  Thus 
the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  coming  on  the  earth. 
For  themselves  and  for  the  world  men  are  to  live 
in  Christ,  because  the  Divine  life  in  the  fulness  of 
its  grace  and  truth  is  his.  Let  it  be  remembered 
that  it  is  Himself  Christ  gives,  not  his  influence. 
It  is  himself  the  man  gives,  not  his  confidence. 
Two  lives  meet  and  the  one  prevails  over  the 
other  and  persuades  it  into  a  new  nature.  The 
union  is  for  life,  and  life  is  endless.  An  English 
writer  calls  it  "  the  essential  weakness  of  all  mere 
systems  of  morality,  and  of  most,  if  not  all,  other 
religions,  that  they  confine  themselves  to  pointing 
out  what  the  facts  of  life  ought  to  be,  and  make 
no  provision  whatever  for  dealing  with  facts  as 
they  are."  The  Son  of  Man  came  into  the  world 
knowing  it  perfectly  and  longing  to  serve  it.  He 
came  down  from  his  home  among  the  hills  and 
dealt  with  the  facts  which  surrounded  Him.  He 
went  into  the  misery  and  sin  of  the  earth,  into  its 
hypocrisy  and  oppression.  He  offered  freedom. 
He  gave  the  Truth.  He  taught  righteousness.  He 
told  men  that  He  had  come  to  save  them  and  that 
He  must  die  in  doing  it.     This  was  his  passion, 


306  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

and  He  never  faltered.  There  is  no  explanation 
of  this  life  but  his  own,  and  He  explains  the 
thought  of  the  Father.  One  is  startled  at  Doctor 
Holmes'  cry,  "  How  can  God  bear  it !  This  ball 
of  anguish  forever  spinning  before  Him,  and  the 
great  hum  of  its  misery  going  up  to  his  ears." 
He  does  not  bear  it.  In  his  Son  He  comes  into 
it,  and  offers  to  every  man  his  hand  to  bring  him 
out  of  it,  and  every  man  shall  speedily  escape 
from  it  who  wills  to  have  it  so.  The  pain  at  the 
world's  misery  is  lightened  by  the  joy  of  taking  it 
away.  Already  where  his  mercy  has  been  carried 
we  account  it  a  very  pleasant  thing  to  live,  and 
heaven  itself  rarely  attracts  one  away.  The  world 
is  not  a  "  ball  of  anguish ;  "  and  it  can  have  less 
misery  any  day  it  decrees  it.  We  are  standing  in 
the  love  of  God  when  we  believe  in  a  highway 
out  of  sorrow  and  sin.  "  I  am  the  way,"  He  said. 
I  have  presented  to  you  the  purpose  and  prom- 
ise of  Christ.  I  wish  to  give  a  resistless  influence 
to  all  I  have  written  by  letting  other  men  say  it. 
This  truth  must  have  its  proof  in  the  life,  and  it 
may  be  seen  in  life  which  we  honor  even  now  that 
it  is  removed  from  our  sight.  I  name  two  or 
three  men  of  exalted  character,  whose  sincerity 
and  wisdom  are  unquestioned,  whose  philosophy 
is  in  the  foremost  thinking  of  scholars  ;  who  were 
sagacious,   careful,   scientific,    critical,    and   who 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  307 

could  not  well  be  mistaken  in  questions  of  per- 
sonal experience,  and  to  whom  pretence  was  im- 
possible. The  religious  principles  of  such  men 
deserve  respect  because  they  are  such  men.  There 
are  many  of  whom  my  words  are  true  who  have 
tested  Christ  and  his  teaching  under  varied  con- 
ditions, and  whose  faith  in  Him  dignified  their 
noblest  years.  I  think  of  the  president  of  a  great 
college,  Theodore  Woolsey,  a  man  whose  presence 
was  a  benison  as  he  crossed  the  yard.  He  was 
well  trained  in  life,  a  lawyer,  theologian,  profes- 
sor. He  was  an  eminent  Greek  scholar,  and  one 
of  the  revisers  of  the  New  Testament.  He  lived 
in  the  present,  familiar  with  all  times.  He  wrote 
on  international  law,  political  science,  civil  lib- 
erty, socialism.  He  kept  his  life  young  among 
young  men,  and  he  built  no  wall  around  his 
thought.  He  believed  in  his  soul.  He  kept  it 
open  before  spiritual  light  and  grace.  He  let  it 
range  the  ages.  He  was  an  old  man  when  he 
reached  his  "  time  of  graduation,"  as  he  gently 
called  it.  Then,  honored  by  a  countless  number 
of  scholars,  he  ascended  to  other,  perhaps  not 
higher,  service.  Was  the  opinion  of  this  man  on 
subjects  with  which  he  was  well  acquainted  of 
decided  value?  Now,  this  man  believed,  on  liter- 
ary and  personal  grounds,  that  the  four  biogra- 
phies of  Christ  are  trustworthy.      lie  was  probably 


308  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

uncertain  over  some  point  in  a  Greek  manuscript ; 
but  he  believed  the  record.  He  went  much  far- 
ther. He  believed  this  so  thoroughly  that  he  ac- 
cepted the  teaching  of  Christ,  and  held  it  to  be 
the  Truth.  He  looked  to  Him  for  guidance,  for 
knowledge,  for  righteousness  of  life.  He  trusted 
the  promises  he  read,  and  believed  that  Christ 
would  win  the  world.  He  did  more  than  this, 
much  more.  If  he  had  been  asked  —  he  said  it 
without  being  asked  —  what  highest  desire  he 
had  for  the  thousands  of  young  men  who  revered 
him,  and  whose  lives  were  for  four  years  and 
longer  in  his  keeping,  he  would  have  replied  with 
all  the  solemnity  which  many  and  industrious 
days  could  impart :  I  would  that  every  young  man 
who  enters  the  gates  of  this  college  should  be  the 
thorough-going  disciple  of  Jesus  Christ,  receiving 
his  words  as  the}'  are  written  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  seeking  his  Spirit  as  the  only  inspira- 
tion. 

Change  the  form,  but  not  much,  and  this  is  true 
of  our  Harvard  saint,  whose  thought  of  Christ  has 
been  already  told.  To  him  were  given  a  lofty 
character,  wide  learning,  broad  influence,  a  large 
part  among  men.  He  was  called  to  be  the  teacher 
of  young  men ;  and  from  his  words,  even  more 
from  the  man  himself,  they  took  lessons  in  life, 
and  they  desired  to  live.     To  talk  with  him  was 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  309 

to  respect  him  and  to  respect  yourself.  He  car- 
ried many  in  his  sympathies,  and  all  the  long  way 
he  was  telling  men  to  be  the  scholars  and  the  true 
friends  of  Christ ;  to  trust  Him  perfectly,  and  to 
make  up  life  entirely  by  his  rules. 

With  him  stands  my  own  President  at  Harvard, 
James  Walker ;  the  wise  man,  the  great  man  ;  the 
writer  and  teacher  of  philosophy ;  the  vigorous 
preacher ;  who  made  the  reading  of  the  Bible  at 
morning  prayers  something  to  be  talked  about 
when  we  had  left  the  chapel ;  who  adorned  the 
truth  he  taught.  I  can  hear  to-day  the  impressive 
roll  of  his  strong  voice,  intense  in  its  honesty: 
"  Young  men,  you  have  much  more  need  of  religion 
than  religion  has  of  you."  Those  who  recognize 
the  man  will  mark  how  well  he  described  himself 
in  these  words :  "  There  is  no  ignoring,  there  is 
no  concealing,  the  inconveniences,  the  infirmities, 
which  steal  over  us  as  we  descend  into  the  vale  of 
years.  .  .  .  It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  surrounded 
by  kind  friends  and  all  the  endearments  and  ap- 
pliances of  a  happy  home.  But  greater  than  all, 
4  to  know  Christ,  and  the  power  of  his  resurrec- 
tion,' as  a  hope  full  of  immortality/'  With  this 
hope  an  old  man  still  has  "something  to  live  for, 
and  something  to  die  for." 

The  men  come  rapidly  when  we  start  to  think 
upon  them.     It  was  not  long  ago  —  it  was  very 


310  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

long  ago  —  that  one  walked  among  us  whom  all 
men  honored.    It  was  a  stately  presence.    It  needed 
to  be  for  the  soul  it  sheltered.     What  man  has 
drawn  to  himself  the  homage  of  the  place  as  did 
he   who    never  sought  applause  ?      He  knew  no 
boundaries  of  heart  or  help.     He  was  the  minister 
of  Trinity  ;  but  no  church  could  confine  him.     He 
held  the  souls  of  men  in  thrall.     Every  one  knew 
the  way  to  his  open  door.     His  years  were  not 
many,  but  they  were  large.     His  words  were  in 
all  lands,  his  voice  at  the  ends  of  the  earth.     Yet 
chiefly  here  where  we  saw  him  every  day  was  he 
honored  and  loved.     It  was  a  rare  fame,  unsullied 
as  he  rose  to  high  station.     How  great  he  was ! 
How  good  !    What  made  it  all  ?    Was  it  learning, 
eloquence,  kindness,  humanity,  a  large  manhood 
in  rare  opportunities?     These    indeed  were    his. 
But  these  were  not  the  man.     No  one  knows  him 
who  has  not  gone  beneath  all  this,  and  found  him. 
He  was  a  Christian.     He  profoundly  believed  in 
Christ.     He  lived  with  Him,  in  Him.     He  walked 
in  his  light  and  worked  in  his  strength.     He  was 
large-hearted,  but  there  was  not  a  desire  in  the 
whole  range  of  his  feeling  which  was  so  strong, 
persistent,  universal,  as  the  longing  that  every  man 
whom  he  could  by  any  means  persuade  should  live 
in  the  grace  of  Christ's  words,  and  be  guided,  puri- 
fied, ennobled,  by  his  indwelling  Spirit.   If  he  could 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  311 

consent  to  any  honor,  and  could  choose  what  it 
should  be,  he  would  place  above  all  other  distinc- 
tion the  glory  of  standing  before  the  world  a  wit- 
ness to  the  truth  of  the  religion  which  he  taught 
and  lived. 

I  do  not  claim  that  Christianity  is  true  because 
these  men  believed  it,  and  in  their  lives  put  it 
to  the  proof.  But  I  do  claim  that  it  is  entitled  to 
reverent  and  hopeful  study,  and  to  personal  alle- 
giance, when  it  has  commended  itself  to  the  con- 
science and  the  life,  as  these  teachers  say  that  it 
will.  I  could  enlarge  the  catalogue  of  names 
almost  without  bounds,  and  from  all  the  ways  of 
life.     But  what  need  of  this? 

These  witnesses,  multiplied  by  thousands  of 
intelligent  and  honest  men,  encourage  the  confi- 
dence which  comes  with  the  very  presence  of 
Christ  and  in  every  word  He  taught,  that  this 
religion  will  meet  men  in  their  want,  teach  them 
what  they  need  to  learn,  empower  them  for 
that  which  they  have  to  do.  No  want  has  yet 
been  discovered  to  which  Christianity  does  not 
effectively  address  itself.  It  is  distinctly  ethical, 
and  the  principles  of  morality  are  the  same  the 
world  over.  The  Ten  Commandments,  the  two 
commandments,  are  valid  on  every  spot  the  sun 
shines  upon.  There  is  no  place  where  they  do  not 
make  for  virtue,  happiness,  peace,  helpfulness,  and 


312  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

length  of  days.  It  does  more  than  teach  duty. 
It  provides  the  motive  and  desire  to  do  it,  and 
it  furnishes  the  moral  strength.  It  is  life.  Be- 
yond the  doing,  this  religion  is  religious.  It 
knows  God.  We  cannot  fail  to  notice  the  virility 
of  this  religion.  This  is  found  in  its  spirit  and  its 
requirements  ;  it  is  seen  in  the  practical  evidence 
of  its  power  which  is  everywhere.  It  makes  men. 
There  is  not  a  dreamy,  speculative  line  in  all  its 
precepts.  It  is  gentle  and  kindly,  but  rugged 
and  solid.  Its  moral  and  spiritual  energy  is  man- 
ifest. Everywhere  it  gives  vigor  to  the  will,  force 
to  the  affections,  temper  to  the  soul,  and  makes 
the  conscience  robust.  It  excepts  nothing  from 
its  authority,  not  even  eating  and  drinking.  It 
excludes  nothing  from  recognition,  not  even  a  cup 
of  water  or  a  drop  of  oil.  In  its  idea  all  of  life 
is  sacred.  It  writes  on  the  bells  of  the  horses  the 
inscription  on  the  high  priest's  helmet.  It  finds 
room  in  its  service  and  its  records  for  St.  Paul 
and  Dorcas  both.  All  this  is  religion,  but  it  is 
not  the  whole  of  religion,  which  must  stand  in 
the  thought  of  God,  in  unity  with  Him,  in  love, 
in  trust,  in  the  desire  and  intent  to  do  the  things 
which  please  Him,  and  because  they  please  Him. 
When  conduct  parts  with  God,  it  is  no  longer 
religious.  Thus  religion  makes  life  more  inter- 
esting and   honorable  at  the  same  time  that  it 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  313 

unites  it  with  the  Divine  life  ;  and  it  makes  the 
thoughts  and  feelings  more  exalted  when  it  en- 
shrines them  in  the  common  duties  which  it 
requires  and  rewards,  and  which  the  world  needs. 
To  make  all  this  real  and  assured  the  Son  of  Man 
lives  in  men.  They  know  his  presence  and  they 
offer  it  the  love  which  fosters  piety  and  yields 
obedience  in  good  works.  In  his  own  words  of 
friendliness,  they  sup  with  Him  and  He  with 
them.  Faith,  Hope,  Love  abide.  They  have 
immortality  and  more.  Eternal  life  is  more.  It  is 
offered  to  every  man,  forced  on  no  one.  Christ 
did  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  save,  and  He  does 
not  destroy  life  in  the  act  of  saving  it;  removing 
its  liberty  to  secure  its  happiness.  His  gifts  are 
from  freedom  to  freedom.  Life  is  to  live.  The 
breath  of  the  Almighty  was  not  given  to  be  with- 
drawn. Our  days  are  not  to  end  in  a  vanishing 
point.  We  do  not  hold  them  at  the  will  of  change 
and  chance.  The  Son  of  Man  gave  Himself,  not 
to  perfect  seventy  years,  but  to  perfect  life.  He 
restored  man  because  man  was  to  live.  We  take 
the  grandeur  away  if  we  think  this  is  not  so.  For 
the  Creator  to  withdraw  man  to  Himself  is  t<>  I 
From  everlasting  He  had  the  life  and  He  added 
man.  By  this  personality  He  gained.  To  bring 
this  to  an  end  would  be  to  cancel  his  own  thought 
and  destroy  his  own  work.     He  would  lus.-  a  child. 


314  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

If  He  takes  the  man's  life  back  into  his  life,  there 
is  no  more  life  than  before,  and  the  man  is  gone. 
There  is  less  to  love.  "  Not  vitality,  but  person- 
ality, is  the  witness  for  immortality,"  Asa  Gray 
wrote.  Christ  came  to  make  pure  the  enduring 
heart  of  man,  and  to  make  his  life  like  God's. 
There  was  inducement  to  this  in  the  endless  years. 
All  the  way  the  scale  is  Divine.  We  think  we 
were  "  not  made  to  die,"  and  God  has  made  us. 
He  will  make  life  a  blessing  in  the  Son.  There 
is  a  tradition  that  St.  Paul  wished  he  had  met 
Virgil.  We  may  share  his  regret.  I  wish  that 
Christ  could  have  met  Buddha.  He  would  have 
enlightened  him,  fostered  all  that  was  noble  and 
kind  in  him,  lifted  his  burden  of  sorrow  and  his 
pain  for  the  world,  carried  him  in  heart  and  hope 
past  Nirvana  into  Paradise.  Life  would  have 
been  a  blessing  to  be  cherished,  and  immortality 
an  unspeakable  joy.  I  wish  He  could  have  seen 
the  man  so  greatly  loved,  and  have  taken  him  for 
a  disciple  and  apostle  ! 

We  have  a  natural  interest  in  the  world,  and  in 
whatever  will  help  it  to  know  itself  and  enjoy  its 
life.  It  is  not  a  deserted  world.  If  we  call  it 
lost,  as  there  is  warrant  for  doing,  we  must  also 
call  it  found.  If  we  think  it  prodigal,  and  well 
we  may,  it  has  not  wandered  out  of  the  care  of 
Him  who  made  it.     The  work  of  the  Divine  life 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  315 

in  the  world  has  gone  far,  but  it  is  far  from  com- 
pletion. Many  difficulties  are  surmounted,  but 
others  remain,  and  they  are  real,  whatever  be  their 
form,  however  slight  they  seem.  If  the  coral  in- 
sects built  the  Dolomites,  it  is  only  good  climbing 
which  surmounts  them.  We  say  that  the  world 
is  open  before  the  messengers  of  God.  Not  quite. 
They  can  go  into  any  land,  but  not  into  every 
heart.  The  call  "  From  Greenland's  icy  moun- 
tains "  is  not  more  strong  than  when  Hans  Egede 
answered  it  two  hundred  years  ago.  Nevertheless 
the  Divine  faith  is  advancing,  and  the  Divine 
presence  moves  before  it,  cloud  by  day  and  fire 
by  night.  We  plan  for  the  world,  but  we  cannot 
forget  the  need  along  our  own  streets,  in  our 
hovels  and  palaces,  on  the  hills  and  by  the 
streams.  If  the  result  were  better  here  we  should 
have  more  readiness  to  extend  the  good.  There 
is  a  serious  thought  in  the  questions  of  an  Ameri- 
can historian :  "  Christianity  has  conquered  all 
the  best  races  in  history  thus  far.  Now,  can  it 
conquer  to  the  bottom,  as  it  has  already  conquered 
to  the  top?  Can  it  bring  the  whole  human  fam- 
ily, its  lowest  peoples  with  its  highest,  into  one 
common  fold?  Can  it  evangelize  its  own  cities, 
going  down  into  the  cellars,  up  into  the  garrets, 
of  its  own  heathens  here  at  home/  Hard  as  the 
task    may  be,   Christianity  stands  squarely  coin- 


316  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

mitted  to  it.  What  it  can  do  may  be  known  from 
what  it  has  done." 

If  things  have  been  done  by  those  bearing  this 
name,  which  have  had  little  of  the  spirit  of  the 
Teacher,  we  knew  they  were  not  of  his  bidding. 
We  said  the  treasure  is  in  earthen  vessels,  but  we 
knew  that  the  treasure  was  true.  If  we  had  con- 
fused vessel  and  treasure  we  had  been  careless,  or 
worse.  But  always  the  faith  itself  can  be  found. 
The  treasure  is  not  to  be  hidden  in  vessels.  The 
broken  alabaster  is  to  let  the  spikenard  send  out 
its  fragrance.  The  box  needs  no  cover,  and  the 
world  needs  the  perfume.  One  may  see  at 
Naples  a  joint  of  pipe  from  Pompeii  with  the 
water  still  within  it.  You  shake  this  and  the 
water  answers,  but  it  cannot  escape.  It  is  a  curi- 
osity, but  not  a  benefit.  Let  the  faith  escape 
from  men  and  schools  and  it  will  live.  To  live  is 
the  normal  state  of  life,  to  live  and  to  give  life. 

The  life  of  the  Son  of  Man  has  not  entrenched 
itself  in  castles  and  palaces,  claiming  regal  honors, 
asserting  political  authority,  and  subduing  kings. 
It  has  lived  in  meekness  and  gentleness  ;  teaching 
good-will,  breathing  out  charity,  healing,  com- 
forting, restoring  ;  revealing  God  and  calling  men 
home.  Whatever  else  appears,  this  reveals  itself. 
It  lives  in  this  grace  now.  If  we  could  agree  to 
take  this  as  the  rule  of  life,  the  world  would  feel 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  317 

its  power.  The  world,  which  gets  too  little  help 
from  stately  institutions,  would  find  its  streets 
lighted  by  his  presence  and  its  waters  levelled 
under  his  feet.  I  beg  that  Christ  and  his  truth 
may  not  be  judged  by  the  tilings  which  men  have 
done  against  which  our  humanity  cries  out.  Let 
not  those  be  overlooked  in  whom  the  spirit  of 
Christ  has  done  a  more  perfect  work.  There  are 
men  on  whom  the  name  of  saint  is  not  unbecom- 
ing; men  and  women  in  whom  a  high-minded 
charity  has  lived,  who  have  made  the  world  beau- 
tiful, and  have  lived  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord, 
in  the  power  of  his  Spirit.  May  not  Christianity 
be  judged  by  its  best?  It  has  its  best,  of  whom 
the  world  was  not  worthy,  and  they  were  its  lighl 
—  often  solitary,  as  beacon  lights  are  wont  to  be. 

The  best  is  the  real.  There  have  been  brave 
deeds,  easily  recalled;  great  thoughts  and  forces. 
There  was  wonderful  strength  in  the  old  forms  of 
Christian  belief  which  have  lessened  their  power. 
They  made  God  great  and  his  sovereignty  strong, 
and  we  need  that  work  to-day.  Calvinism  "set 
its  face  against  illusion  and  mendacity,"  as 
Froude  says  ;  and  it  produced  vigorous  characters, 
equal  to  large  achievements.  That  system  will 
not  return,  but  the  virtue  which  was  in  it  cannot 
perish. 

Who  shall  call  men  and  churches  to  the  way  of 


318  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

life,  and  bring  ns  in  contentment  around  the  one 
name  ?  Perhaps  no  one.  Yet  in  some  form  the 
truth  of  Christ  is  to  find  men  and  to  save  them.  I 
sometimes  fancy  that  such  a  man  is  coming.  Not 
yet.  The  time  is  not  ready  for  him.  If  he  comes, 
it  will  be  in  Spirit  and  in  power ;  he  will  find  the 
good  and  value  it ;  he  will  give  honor  to  the 
churches  and  their  service ;  he  will  be  tolerant 
and  generous ;  he  will  not  strive  nor  cry,  but 
quietly,  with  Divine  power,  he  will  persuade,  and 
the  conscience  of  men  will  approve,  and  they  will 
receive  the  Divine  life  for  themselves,  for  the 
country,  for  the  world.  He  shall  live.  In  his 
heart  "  shall  dwell  visions  of  a  world  redeemed, 
and  the  divine  passion  to  redeem  it."  High  au- 
thority bids  us  "  Beware  when  God  lets  loose  a 
prophet."  Beware  when  God  does  not  let  loose 
a  prophet !  Ecclesiastical  matters  are  shaken ;  but 
much  order  abides  in  strength.  Of  late  there  has 
been  quick  and  bold  thinking;  but  we  know 
where  we  are.  This  is  all  preparatory,  not  final. 
I  see  no  reason  why  we  could  not  reconstruct  our 
forms  of  belief.  Such  work  has  been  done  many 
times.  It  can  only  be  done  by  men  in  whom  the  life 
lives.  We  have  quantities  of  material :  gold,  silver, 
precious  stones  ;  and  perhaps  the  rest.  But  the  one 
foundation  standeth  sure.  We  ought  to  be  able 
to  build  anew.     Perhaps  we  ought  to  be  willing. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  319 

But  what  the  world  needs  first,  and  to  the  end, 
is  God.  Not  God  in  the  heavens,  and  in  the  past, 
alone.  But  God  here,  and  ready  by  "the  man 
whom  he  hath  ordained"  to  repeat  and  enlarge 
the  work  recorded  in  Genesis,  and  many  times 
promised  in  the  New  Testament,  and  to  create 
a  man  in  his  own  image,  with  his  own  heart,  a 
new  man  in  the  Son  of  Man.  A  revolt  against 
things  we  do  not  esteem  is  of  little  value  unless 
it  leads  us  from  fretting  to  faith,  and  brings  us  to 
the  real  life.  The  appeal  to  the  past  needs  to 
reach  to  the  beginning.  What  did  they  know 
who  stood  near  the  Apostles  which  is  not  in  our 
hands?  The  years  since  have  added  little  hut 
experience,  with  reasoning,  defining,  asserting.  Of 
the  merits  of  their  work  we  are  judges.  The  New 
Testament  is  in  our  hands  and  we  can  read  it  in 
English  and  Greek.  We  do  well  to  preserve  our 
respect  for  the  Christian  thinking  which  has  pre- 
ceded us.  There  is  wisdom  so  old  that  we  are  chil- 
dren in  its  presence.  Solid,  substantial,  scholarly, 
scientific  thought  distinguishes  the  Christian  cen- 
turies, and  is  nowhere  more  marked  than  in  the 
domain  of  religious  truth.  We  do  well  to  keep 
before  us  the  learning  of  other  days,  and  then  do 
our  own  thinking.  These  years  with  their  in- 
crease of  all  knowledge  must  have  given  lighl  t" 
the  truths.     It  would  be  strange  it  religions  truth 


320  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

alone  were  excluded  from  the  learning.  It  is  not 
that  new  facts  have  been  added,  but  new  light 
through  life.  The  truths  need  to  be  stated  in 
the  terms  of  the  present  day,  and  in  the  propor- 
tions which  life  now  requires.  This  will  keep  us 
in  sympathy  with  the  saints,  in  their  feeling  if  not 
in  its  expression ;  and  soon  there  will  be  a  re- 
sponse in  our  own  hearts.  This  personal  study 
of  the  truth  we  shall  not  deny  to  those  who  in- 
herit our  words,  and  we  may  ask  the  same  free- 
dom for  ourselves. 

I  have  one  thing  to  add  in  the  way  of  confirma- 
tion by  personal  witness.  I  have  many  times  said 
that  the  Divine  force,  the  Divine  life,  is  now  given 
to  men  through  Jesus  Christ,  —  "  I  am  come  that 
they  might  have  life,"  —  that  whosoever  consents 
to  receive  this  from  Him  shall  have  it.  Is  this 
true?  It  is  an  interesting  question,  even  aside 
from  its  importance,  else  I  should  not  set  it  here. 
It  is  more  than  thirty  years  since  it  became  my 
daily  life  to  serve  under  this  belief.  As  the  min- 
ister of  a  large  parish,  in  close  connection  with  the 
world,  and  especially  with  colleges,  I  have  had 
what  seems  to  me  an  ample  opportunity  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  Divine  life  is  really  bestowed  in 
this  way.  I  have  now  to  say  to  you  that  I  am 
certain  it  is  bestowed  in  this  way ;  that  whoever 
opens  his  heart  to  the  Son  of  Man,  and  goes  on  to 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  321 

obey  Him,  receives  life,  with  light  and  strength ; 
a  new  and  living  force,  which  shall  make  his  life 
true,  generous,  Divine.  This  is  more  than  the 
imparting  of  a  new  purpose,  a  noble  desire,  a  long- 
ing for  an  ideal.  It  is  the  giving  of  life  ;  life  for 
the  heart,  the  conscience,  the  will;  the  life  which 
makes  a  new  man.  It  does  not  make  a  full-grown 
man ;  but  a  child  rather,  whom  it  brings  up  into 
manhood.  Bear  with  me  for  a  moment.  In  these 
years  which  are  no  longer  few  I  have  many  times 
seen  the  spirit  of  a  man  opened  quickly  before  the 
Son  of  Man.  He  has  always  come  in.  He  comes 
in  whenever  the  man  opens  the  door.  It  is  as 
sure  as  the  coming  in  of  the  outer  air.  I  have 
never  known  it  otherwise. 

I  am  willing  to  trust  to  this  any  one  whose  well- 
being  is  of  infinite  worth  in  my  thought.  I  am 
rejoiced  when  any  young  man  whose  heart  I  have 
reached  goes  out  from  Harvard  or  Yale  with  this 
truth  to  inspire  his  life  and  to  be  his  message  to 
the  world.  Here  it  is,  so  far  as  I  depend  upon 
the  warrant  of  experience,  that  I  have  justified 
myself  in  writing  of  the  Divine  force  in  the  life 
of  the  world.  The  force  which  reaches  a  new- 
man,  and  by  repeating  this  reaches  a  new  world, 
may  well  be  called  Divine.  I  believe  in  the  Son  of 
Man.  Before  me  He  stands,  the  Man  of  history, 
young,  erect,  brave.     He  wears  no  halo  hut  his 


322  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

manly  love  ;  with  form  well  defined,  the  outline 
sharp  against  the  sky,  and  the  whole  being  rounded 
with  grace,  with  the  eye  clear  and  gentle  as  the 
light,  the  ear  sensitive  to  a  child's  thought,  a  sin- 
ner's sigh,  the  hands  strong  enough  to  turn  a 
world,  gentle  enough  to  wipe  away  a  tear.  He 
stands  the  real  man,  the  perfect  man,  in  whom  is 
the  fulness  of  the  Divine  life,  so  that  the  willing 
man  He  touches  lives,  and  bears  his  image  and 
likeness. 

If  that  prophet  should  ever  come  his  word  would 
be  simple,  but  forcible.  He  would  open  the  New 
Testament  and  read  of  the  Son  of  Man ;  and  he 
would  call  us  to  devote  ourselves  to  Him ;  to  be- 
lieve his  words,  and  to  take  them  as  the  rule  of 
our  life ;  to  receive  his  spirit,  that  it  may  control 
our  feeling  and  thought.  He  would  bid  us  to 
trust  in  Him  and  in  his  grace  to  have  eternal  life. 
More  than  this  he  would  say  for  enforcement. 
But  the  one  thing  from  which  he  would  never 
swerve  is  this  —  that  Jesus  Christ  is  the  Love  of 
God,  in  the  world  redeeming  and  in  heaven  en- 
throned. "  I  determined  not  to  know  anything 
among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ  and  Him  cruci- 
fied," were  the  words  of  a  prophet,  will  be  the 
words  of  the  coming  prophet,  if  he  comes.  The 
world  will  hear  and  believe,  and  will  find  itself 
and  its  Creator. 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  323 

Does  all  this  seem  far  away?  No,  this  has  be- 
gun. It  was  finished  that  night  at  Bethlehem,  for 
a  divine  purpose  has  its  fulfilment  in  itself.  We 
have  seen  the  end,  and  now  wait  for  its  unfolding. 
These  dull  days  cannot  last  much  longer.  The 
former  times  are  not  better  than  those  which  are 
at  hand.  We  are  slowly  regaining  the  spirit  of 
Christianity  in  our  abounding  service.  Useful- 
ness ranks  higher  than  ever,  or  anywhere,  before. 
Men  are  thinking  of  Christ,  talking,  writing,  read- 
ing of  Him.  He  is  in  the  mind.  Religious  truths 
are  a  common  theme,  and  diversity  is  a  hopeful 
sign  of  life.  Christianity  is  young  and  the  cur- 
rents of  its  life  are  strong.  It  was  never  so  greal 
in  confidence  as  in  these  earnest  days.  It  has 
broadened  with  all  knowledge.  It  keeps  pace  with 
discovery  and  geography.  It  intends  to  bring  the 
world  to  its  Lord.  Its  uncompromising  faith  is 
pledged  to  this.  It  works  in  the  power  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  the  Eternal  Spirit.  It  devotes  to 
this  divine  end  its  best  treasure,  the  young  life  in 
which  to-morrow  lives.  It  will  disown  itself  and 
its  origin  when  it  contracts  its  design.  We  have 
made  proof  of  Christianity,  and  we  know  that  it 
can  do  all  that  is  needed  in  New  England  and 
South  America,  from  Greal  Britain  to  Melanesia. 
David  Livingstone  and  ( Soleridge  Patteson  died  in 
full  knowledge  of  its  way  and  work,  and  an  utter 


324  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

belief  in  it.  John  Paton  among  the  Christians 
whom  he  made  from  cannibals,  by  this  grace, 
knows  and  believes.  The  knowledge  of  such  men 
is  worth  tons  of  opinion.  Theories  must  make 
obeisance  before  results.  Things  seem  to  be  ready 
for  the  spirit  of  truth  and  life.  In  the  coming  of 
Christ  is  the  Divine  pledge  of  the  completion  of 
his  redemptive  purpose.  That  we  shall  see  greater 
things  than  these  is  still  his  word.  He  is  the  liv- 
ing promise,  and  He  will  be  kept.  Not  in  what 
men  are  doing,  but  in  what  He  is  doing,  is  our 
confidence.  No  one  versed  in  his  teaching  can 
fail  to  be  brave.  Who  love  Him  best,  best  love 
their  fellow-men,  and  are  bold  for  their  sake.  His 
work  is  not  to  be  done  in  a  day.  It  is  not  the 
transfer  of  an  outward  allegiance ;  the  changing 
of  a  banner  for  the  cross.  It  is  deep,  in  the  heart 
of  a  man  ;  the  overturning  of  his  purpose,  the  con- 
trolling of  his  life.  Every  man  created  anew  be- 
comes the  minister  to  his  neighbor  somewhere. 
God  is  in  it  all.  This  is  his  will.  Our  reliance 
is  on  Him.  The  Son  of  God  is  "  the  transcendent 
Person  of  history  ;  and  to  be  transcendent  here  is 
to  be  transcendent  everywhere,  for  religion  is  the 
supreme  factor  in  the  organizing  and  the  regulat- 
ing of  our  personal  and  collective  life."  The  past 
inspires  us.  Lecky  had  studied  the  course  of  the 
world  when  he  wrote  of  the  three  years  of  Christ's 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  325 

life,  that  the  record  of  them  "  has  done  more  to 
soften  and  regenerate  mankind  than  all  the  dis- 
quisitions of  philosophers,  and  than  all  the  exhor- 
tations of  moralists."  The  historian  of  morality 
gave  his  testimony,  that  "It  was  reserved  for 
Christianity  to  present  to  the  world  an  ideal  char- 
acter, which  through  all  the  changes  of  eighteen 
centuries  has  filled  the  hearts  of  men  with  an  im- 
passioned love."  It  is  a  glorious  consummation  to 
which  we  look.  What  is  it?  The  answer  is  con- 
tinually upon  our  lips.  The  air  is  hallowed  with 
the  promise  which  answers  to  our  request.  We 
speak  in  familiar  words  the  end  and  glory  of  crea- 
tion. We  say  The  Lord's  Prayer.  The  end  is  in 
it.  He  taught  it,  we  learned  it,  long  ago.  It  is 
the  cry  of  the  centuries  ;  in  many  tongues,  in  one 
desire.  The  child  bends  at  his  mother's  knee  or 
ever  sleep  touches  his  innocent  eyes,  and  lisps  as 
she  has  told  him,  "  Thy  kingdom  come."  In  every 
college  the  student  as  he  closes  his  books  to-night 
and  calls  home  his  thoughts,  and  in  manly  pur- 
pose feels  the  meaning  of  his  life,  finds  no  truer 
expression  of  it  than  the  prayer  of  his  boyhood, 
u  Thy  kingdom  come." 

The  priest  chants  it  at  the  altar.  It  is  spoken 
by  the  merchant  who  has  commerce  with  eternal 
things;  by  the  lawyer  who  knows  the  holiness  of 
law, aware  of  one  Law-giver:  the  physician  whose 


326  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

ministry  is  health ;  the  man  of  science  whose  un- 
fettered thought  moves  in  an  open  world ;  the 
mother,  kinswoman  with  her  of  Bethlehem,  who 
would  extend  the  sanctity  of  her  home ;  the  sol- 
dier without  fear  and  without  reproach  ;  the  sailor 
who  roams  from  clime  to  clime  with  merchandise 
which  cannot  be  valued  with  silver,  exchanging 
thought  for  thought  and  adding  life  to  life.  "  Thy 
kingdom  come,"  they  say.  "  Thy  will  be  done  ;  " 
and  in  the  space  beneath  the  heavens  the  words 
gather  in  a  cloud  of  desire  ;  floating  quietly  above 
us,  illumined,  shaped  in  a  holy  city  with  jewelled 
walls ;  and  under  the  cloud,  here  upon  the  earth, 
moves  on  the  life,  with  its  word,  its  touch,  its 
breath;  praying,  and  bringing  nearer  and  more 
near  the  longed-for  consummation,  the  crowning 
of  all  hope,  the  passion  of  the  saints,  the  fulness 
of  life,  the  new  creation  perfected,  the  marriage 
of  the  Son  of  Man  to  the  New  Jerusalem.  We 
said  it  when  we  were  children,  we  are  doing  it  now, 
—  "  Thy  kingdom  come.     Thy  will  be  done." 

No  better  words  were  found  to  write  upon  the 
wall  of  Harvard,  the  mother's  blessing  for  her  sons 
as  year  by  year  they  go  out  to  do  their  manly  ser- 
vice in  the  world  ;  against  the  names  of  her  sons 
who  glorified  their  learning  witli  devotion,  and 
gave  their  lives  for  the  country,  —  there  were 
found  no  better  words  than  these  from  one  who 


THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES  327 

knew  duty  and  held  it  more  than  length  of  days  ; 
"They  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  brightness 
of  the  firmament ;  and  they  that  turn  many  to 
righteousness  as  the  stars  for  ever  and  ever." 

We  are  working  for  this.  Many  things  are 
ready.  The  wedding  only  waits  the  guests. 
Blessed  is  he  who  summons  them !  The  house  is 
builded  and  furnished.  Our  preparation  is  on  a 
goodly  scale.  Temples,  cathedrals,  churches  invite 
worshippers.  The  kingdom  will  find  its  palaces 
prepared.  The  stupendous  temples  of  India  are 
ready  for  the  Son  of  Man.  The  gods  of  many 
arms  will  give  place  to  Him  who  held  children 
against  his  heart,  and  blessed  them  there.  The 
walls  of  Egypt's  sanctuaries  can  quickly  be  re- 
stored. The  land  of  the  Nile  sheltered  Him 
when  He  was  a  child.  He  will  reward  it  with  the 
goodwill  of  a  man.  At  Philse  already  the  cross 
is  cut  into  the  door-post.  There  has  been  Chris- 
tian worship  at  Luxor,  and  there  might  be  to-day. 
Prayer  might  even  now  be  said  among  the  pillars 
of  Karnak  with  the  majesty  of  their  memory,  the 
heaviness  of  their  silences.  I  noticed  that  when 
the  Moslem  tore  the  cross  from  the  door  of  St. 
Sophia  he  left  the  marks  of  the  nails,  and  they  can 
go  back  into  their  old  places.  They  are  to  go 
back.  The  powers  of  heaven  will  restore  the 
cross.     It   has    been    needed    in    these   Buffering 


328  THE    CHRISTIAN    FORCES 

months.  It  will  shed  its  light  upon  all  the  Ori- 
ent and  beyond,  circling  the  globe.  It  will  never 
fall  upon  a  man  whom  it  cannot  help.  The  light 
is  spreading,  slowly.  The  sun  is  in  it.  Let  us 
wait ;  but  let  us  look.  The  dawn  reaches  toward 
the  day.  The  day  will  be  forever,  but  the  morn- 
ing will  be  here.  We  close  our  eyes  and  have  the 
vision : 

Where  faint  and  far, 
Along  the  tingling  desert  of  the  sky, 
Beyond  the  circle  of  the  conscious  hills, 
Were  laid  in  jasper-stone  as  clear  as  glass 
The  first  foundations  of  that  new,  near  Day 
Which  should  be  builded  out  of  heaven  to  God. 


INDEX 


Page 

Agassiz,  Louis. 
his  prayer  at  Penikese   ...  45 

Altruism. 

a  name  for  Christian  service,  192 

Angels. 
their  place 56 

Apostles,  The. 

their  devotion 245 

the  later  use  of  the  name    .  256 

Aryans. 

their  idea  of  creation     .   .    .  89 

Associations,      The      Young 
Men's  Christian. 

their  strength 290 

in  colleges 293 

international 293 

Aurelius,  Marcus. 
his  character 241 

Bacon,  Roger. 

his  ability 253 

his  superstition 253 

Bible,  The. 
regarded  as  literature  .    .  6,  129 
the  earliest  chapters     .  6,  18-22 
harmony  with  science,  17, 19,20 

a  book  of  nature 18 

high  estimate  of  man      .    .    .58 
value  of,  as  authority   .    .    .126 
the  New  Testament  .    .    .    .132 
Brace,  C.  L. 
Gesta  Christi 260 


Page 

Brahma. 

his  time 9K 

his  teaching 98 

Britain. 
early  religion  of 273 

Brooks,  Phillips. 
his  testimony 309 

Buddha. 

his  birth 99 

his  life 99 

protected  from  evil    .    .    .    .  100 

his  view  of  life 100 

Nirvana 100 

his  view  of  man 100 

Buddhism 101,  102 

BUSHNELL. 

on    the    dignity    of   human 

nature i>'2 

Calendar,  The. 

Dionysian 123 

its  relation  to  Christianity  .  123 
Calvinism. 

its  strength 317 

Caste. 

in  India 99 

Cato,  Thk  Eldbb. 

bis  character 241 

Causation. 

continuity  of 36 

CnRisT. 

hi-  birth  used  in  the  calendar,  1  IK 


330 


INDEX 


Page 
Christ. 

biographies  of 126 

in  the  Old  Testament  .  .  .132 
in  the  lives  of  his  friends  .  133 
in  the  Book  of  Acts  ...  133 
known  by  St.  Paul    .   .    .   .  134 

to  be  known  now 137 

witness  of  the  churches  to  .  139 
time  of  his  coming  ....  143 
his  home  at  Nazareth  .  146,  151 

his  childhood 147 

his  education 148 

first  visit  to  the  Temple    .   .  149 

his  baptism 152 

his  first  disciples 155 

his  temptation 152 

the  second  Adam 153 

his  miracle  at  Cana  .  .  .  .154 
the  cleansing  of  the  Temple,  155 
interview  with  Nicodemus  .  155 
with  the  woman  of  Samaria,  156 

at  Sychar 158 

at  the  synagogue  of  Naza- 
reth   158 

his  personality 159 

his  mission 159,  161 

his  transfiguration  ....  160 
his  crucifixion    ....  160,  184 

his  death 160,  185 

his  relation  to  the  Father   .  171 
to  men   ....  173 

as  the  Shepherd 173 

his  use  of  "  My  "  .   .    .  174,  198 

as  the  vine 174 

as  the  Creator 175 

the  name  Jesus 177 

Emmanuel    .   .    .  177 
Christ     ....      177 

his  Kingdom 178,  187 

his  entrance  into  Jerusalem,  183 
his  teaching 190,  197 


Page 

Christ. 

his  teaching  of  service  .  .  .  192 
money  .  .  .  193 
the  prodigal,  200 

was  the  reality 201 

his  miracles 202 

required  faith 207 

required  prayer 212 

required  the    Sabbath  .   .    .  213 

effects  of  his  life 221 

the  power  of  his  Love  .  .  223 
his  confidence  in  his  friends,  225 
the  close  of  his  life  ....  239 
present  preparation  for    .   .  327 

Christianity. 

its  meaning     .       136 

to  be  known  now 136 

the  spread  of 247,  257 

its  influence 249,  268 

present  condition 261 

organizations 262 

effect  of  national  changes,  270 
proof  of  its  worth  .  307-311, 320 

Christians. 

persecutions  of 232 

teaching  by  the  Spirit  .  .  .  238 
their  character  described     .  259 

every  one  a  force 261 

the  name 304 

Churches. 
their  testimony  to  Christ     .  138 

Clark,  N.  G. 

his   testimony   to   Christianity, 
269 

Conscience. 

its  witness  to  God 48 

Creation. 

a  new  word     . 9 

the  act  of  creation  .    .   .    .  9,  33 

eternal 12 

a  beginning  needed   .   .    .   .  13 


INDEX 


:\:\\ 


Page 


Page 


Creation. 

Plato's  account  of  .    . 

.  .   .  15 

God's  delight  in  .   .    . 

...  16 

various  accounts  of    . 

.    .   .  21 

spiritual  in  its  origin  . 

.    .  .  26 

of  man 

.  26,  30 

Death. 
its  meaning  and  place    .   .    .89 

Design. 

argument  from 24 

Asa  Gray  on 44 

DlONYSIUS. 

his  calendar 123 

Disciples,  The. 

their  devotion  to  Christ  .   .  222 

their  fidelity 228 

Disobedience. 

its  beginning 81 

reason  for 86 

Duty. 

the  ground  of 65 

love  is 67 

under  evolution 69 

Hooker  on 74 

Edwards,  Jonathan. 

his  consciousness  of  God  .   .  40 
Eliot,  C.  W. 

interest    of   universities    in 
religious  institutions    .    .  297 
Emerson,  R.  W. 

on  duty 74 

England. 

influence  of 286 

Erskine,  Thomas. 

his  consciousness  of  God  .   .  41 
Fetichism. 

defined 113 

Francis,  Saint,  of  Assisi. 

his  preaching  to  birds    .   .    .72 
God. 

in  the  beginning    .    .    .  6,  8,  11 


(;<u>. 

fellowship  in  W\<  being 

.  9 

self-revelation  of    .  .   . 

12 

bis  relation  to  creation 

.  14 

35 

a  supreme  moment  with 

16 

the  only  life        .... 

31 

63 

universal  idea  of  .    .    .    . 

i:; 

witness  of  conscience    . 

■is 

not  the  author  of  evil     . 

91 

Gray,  Asa. 

the  design  in  nature    ....  44 
j  Hindoos. 

Maurice  on 102 

I  Hitchcock,  R.  I  >. 

on  superstition  in  religion,  107 

on  the  conquests  of  Christianity, 

315 

Holmes,  O.  W. 

on  Buffering  in  tbe  world    .  306 
,  Holy  Spirit,  The. 

at  Pentecost 228 

bis  place  and  work  ....  229 

Hooker,  Richard. 
on  duty 74 

Humming-bird. 
the  life  of 32 

India. 

the  land 98 

Brahmans 98 

caste 99 

Buddhism 99,  101 

has  no  lighl  for  t lie  world  .  104 

Japan. 
Buddhism  in 103 

Jesus  Christ. 

the  name 177 

■Urns  the  Baptist. 

his  coming 144 

his  preaching     145 

JOWBTT,  I'.i  vi  \mi\. 

on  the  state  of  the  world     .  243 


332 


INDEX 


Page 

Kingdom  of  Heaven. 
described 178,  187 

Lecky,  W.  E.  H. 
on  the  king's  touch  ....  253 

Life. 

continuity  of 11 

forms  of 13,  26 

first  living  creature     .   .    .  .  20 

mystery  of 32 

of  a  bird 32 

the  only  life 34,  63 

lower  and  higher  .   .    .   .  34,  72 

Livingstone,  David. 
a  witness  to  Christ  .   .  138,  323 

Love. 

in  creation 16 

called  for  man 27 

interprets  life 31 

is  duty .  67 

Man. 

the  first 26 

a  living  soul 30,  69 

his  creation 30 

made  religion  possible  ...  33 
his  double  relation   .   .    .34,  53 

lightly  l-egarded 57 

dignity  of 62 

to  be  like  his  maker  .  .  .  .  64 
his  Edenic  happiness  .  .  68,  70 
lame  or  halting  creature  .  .  68 
connected  with  lower  forms  of 

life 71 

transition  from  obedience,     76, 
79,  85 

his  slow  ascent 77 

his  "  fall  up  " 80 

in  the  garden  of  Eden   ...  80 

out  of  the  garden 88 

the  problem  of  recovery    .   .  95 
Maurice,  F.  D. 
his  consciousness  of  God  .   .41 


Page 

Maurice,  F.  D. 
on  the  Hindoos 102 

Miracles. 

at  Cana 154 

described 204 

on  the  lame  man  at  the  Tem- 
ple      231 

Missions. 
essential  to  Christianity  .  .  259 

their  forces 262 

their  results 272 

to  Britain -274 

well  established 288 

still  needed 295 

Mulford,  E. 

on  the  belief  in  God    .   .    .   .  41 

Muller,  G. 
his  orphanage 267 

Nansen,  Fridtjof. 
reasoning  from  driftwood     .  94 

Nature. 
its  permanent  meaning  ...  16 
its  early  records 23 

Nazareth. 
its  synagogue  visited    .    .  .  158 

Nelson,  Horatio. 
signal  at  Trafalgar    ....  225 

Nicodemcs. 

his  interview  with  Christ    .  156 

Obedience. 

the  nature  of 67 

the  ground  of 66 

transition  from 76,  79 

Palestine. 

a  fitting  place  for  the  life  of 
Christ 142 

Parsees. 
their  stories  of  creation  ...  90 

Paton,  J.  G. 
his  witness   to  Christianity, 

324 


INDEX 


333 


Page 

Patteson,  J.  C. 
his  witness  to  Christianity  .  323 

Paul,  Saint. 
a  witness  to  Christ    ....  134 

his  conversion 23'2 

his  ministry 233 

his  authority 237 

Peabody,  A.  P. 
on  the  person  of  Christ  .   .  172 
his  testimony 308 

Penikese. 
Agassiz's  prayer  on     ....  45 

Pentecost,  Day  of. 

its  importance 227 

Peter,  Saint. 
his   miracle  at   the  Temple, 
231 

Plato. 

describes  creation 15 

on  the  soul 39 

Pliny. 

on  the  spread  of  Christianity, 
247 

Prayer. 

a  part  of  Christianity    .   .    .212 
the  Lord's  Prayer 325 

Prophet. 
the  one  coming 318 

Ramabai,  Pundita. 

on  the  women  of  India    .  .  110 

Religion. 
separate  from  preaching  ...  3 

reality  of 5 

variety  in 5 

confesses  a  supreme  will  ...  7 

is  personal 7 

source  of 8 

universal 8 

without  science 13 

became  possible 33 

demanded  bv  men 94 


Page 

Religions. 
of  the  world    .......  103 

insist  on  morality 105 

reveal  man 106 

superstition  in 106 

insufficient 108 

a  common  principle  in  .    .      112 

Republic,  The  American. 

formation  of 282 

its  influence 28G 

Robertson,  F.  W. 

it  is  right  to  do  right  .    .    .    .06 

Sabbath,  The. 
a  part  of  Christianity    .    .    .213 

Samaria. 
Christ  at  the  well  of     .    .    .  156 

Science. 

without  religion 13 

confirmed  by  the  Bible    .  17,  20 

opposition  to 251 

formed  by  Christianity     .    .  252 

Serpent,  The. 

in  the  garden 83 

Soul,  The. 

what  it  is 33 

is  the  man 36,  69 

origin  of 36 

Plato  on 39 

Spencer,  Herbert. 
on  the  being  of  God       ...  42 

Stephen,  Saint. 

his  martyrdom 233 

Storrs,  R.  S. 
his  lectures 249 

Superstition. 

in  religions 106 

Hitchcock  on 107 

Temptation,  Thb. 
in  the  garden  ol  Eden    .    .  .  N7 

not  of  God      '.'1 

temptation  of  Chii-t    .    .    .  169 


334 


INDEX 


Page 

Tradition. 
source  of 19 

Truth. 

independent  of  form     ....  4 

Virchow,  Professor. 
on  life 11 

Walker,  J. 
the  gospel  of  encouragement,  59 
on  the  person  of  Christ     .   .  172 
his  testimony 309 

WlNTHROP,   J. 

on  the    design    of    the    Puri- 
tans    284 


Page 

Woolsey,  Theodore. 
his  testimony 307 

Worship. 

by  the  Zuni  Indians    .    .   .  113 
of  the  heavens 114 

Young  Men's  Christian  Asso- 
ciations. 
their  purpose  and  strength  .  290 

in  colleges 293 

international 293 

Zuni  Indians. 

their  worship 113 


1  1 


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